Queen of Fifteen
by Procrastination Fairy
Summary: At fifteen, Serenity never imagined she'd be forced to take the throne. Yet when Queen Selene dies, Serenity is suddenly thrust into a world with rulers just old enough to look down on her.
1. Chapter 1

**I figured that someone would probably presume that the Serenity I'm writing about is Usagi's first mother. But, no, this is an alternate version of the Silver Millennium, and the queens are in fact the senshi you know.**

**Revised 2014-10-28: Quite a few things have been added or changed, most notably, the change of the queens' names to actual names from their planets. In order, this would be Khione, Philyra, Alala, Astrape, Keres, Oreithyia, Galene, and Moirae.**

She descended the stairs gently, her bare feet barely making a sound on each step. The princess-queen, she corrected herself-had no desire to alert anyone of her presence. She carefully pulled the door to the courtyard open and slipped inside. The artificially grown vegetation wasn't as beautiful or as lush as that of the other kingdom's, but standing in the garden her mother had worked so hard to grow made the newly crowned queen feel a little closer to her. The snowy white hem of her gown brushed against the ground and out of habit, she raised it to keep from dirtying her clothing.

Serenity sighed. She envied the people on Earth who wore black to mourn. Yes, black, the deep blur of everything, completely tainted and overwhelmed. Serenity felt like wearing that at the moment. The contrast with the queen would be outstanding, and surely everyone would recognize how lost she felt, never mind that perhaps that was a slightly overkill way to show her emotions. Still, Serenity could not help but wish she was allowed to mourn in that way. She was to wear only white or silver, on a rare occasion blue or pink, soft gentle colors that showed the symbol of the moon—love. Not to be confused with Venusian love, Lunar love was love you gave to friends, family, and just about everybody. Compassion, not soul mate love. Those were the rules, she had been told from a young age. Serenity loved the idea. She still wanted to wear other colors though.

She looked down at the crumpled envelope in her hand. This was the reason she'd needed to go here. She simply could not think this through without her mother's help. Serenity knew it was impossible, but she thought that perhaps standing here, her mother could give her a little guidance. She raised the letter and read aloud.

"'Dear Queen Serenity the First,'" she murmured in a rather obnoxious Terran accent, but the girl had never claimed to be good at imitations. She laughed. Did the people of Earth really use names multiple times in the Royal Line? How very strange.

"'I am sorry to hear of Selene's passing and wish to offer condolences. Although I was at least 19 when my father passed, I understand the pain of losing a parent and needing to immediately take place as ruler. I can only assure you that it eases with time.

"'As much as it bothers me to mention this under the circumstance, I must remind you that a meeting to discuss the Alliance is approaching and you must attend. I would presume that Advisor Luna or Advisor Artemis has at least informed you of the wishes of the planets. Serenity, you must be in attendance.'" Serenity's voice cracked a little at the words. Her grip on the page tightened, crinkling the paper a little more, although it hardly mattered in its current condition. "Does he consider me a fool? No, he considers me a _child_. How . . . infuriating. 'I would allow you a longer period of mourning were it up to me, but the other queens do not yet understand the loss of a parent. I would hate that you be dismissed from the Alliance during such a delicate time.

"'Since I have already introduced the subject, I would like to discuss my wishes for inclusion. Your mother did not believe in my soldiers' strength, but I believe that you are an intuitive young—'" Serenity sighed. It was hard to believe that the boy who had teased her about her hair—but never in the company of Selene, who wore her tresses in the same manner, as did all members of the Lunish Court—when they were children was now complimenting her in hopes of achieving her support. "Did it just occur to him that we would rule in the same millennia?" she muttered. She crossed her arms and grimaced.

Serenity remembered the days when she was younger. Up until the other royal children reached the age of ten, they had been playmates. Venus and Endymion, of the same age, often held different opinions. Venus took charge of Mercury and Mars, both only slightly younger and somewhat willing to be led. Endymion took to the older Uranus and Neptune, more willing to get dirty than the others. Jupiter always seemed to babysit Saturn, youngest other than Serenity. Serenity herself was typically a tag-along. After all, the last time she remembered having all of them in the same room, Serenity couldn't have been more than a toddler.

How strange it was to think that as adults, those relationships would change so. As Luna had explained, or rather stressed the point, many would try to use her inexperience to achieve their goals and the others would be prejudiced by her age. To achieve anything during this key part of her reign, Serenity would need to work diligently to prove herself.

Serenity looked down at the candied sweet letter in her hand. This made her certain that King Endymion was most definitely of the former.

* * *

><p>Luna stared at her queen. Not Queen Selene, no, her daughter, who only a few months ago was Princess Serenity. It was sad to think that a girl who'd just passed her fifteenth birthday was now in charge of the moon and supposed to jump into all the alliance agreements with the other planets? If only Selene had known... Maybe they could've prepared the girl for this. But she wasn't supposed to take the throne until she was twenty-one. Why prepare a fourteen-year-old?<p>

"I'm scared, Luna," the queen confessed, her silver hair almost white in the staunch artificial light. Luna reached to comfort her but stopped herself. She could not baby this girl. Serenity needed to stand on her own. Luna was her advisor, but she was not her caretaker.

"Calm yourself, Serenity. You can take charge. Do you remember everything I told you about these recent meetings?"

Serenity stared at Luna for a moment, almost begging her for some form of assistance. A second longer and perhaps Luna would have relented, but the queen inhaled before she began to run through everything she had been taught. "Mercury won't share their technology unless they have Uranus and Neptune to protect them. Venus wants absolute control over the approval of marriages. Earth wants their soldiers to be trained as the rest of the planets' are."

She stopped and bit her lip in blatant confusion. Luna would need to train her on that. Queens weren't supposed to have emotions written all over their face, especially not young, easily manipulated queens. "Mars wants nothing to do with Saturn," she continued in a confident voice, for which her advisor was proud of. At least she didn't shy away after a mistake. "Jupiter is content with everything. Saturn is having difficulties with many of the planets because their queen can end the world. Uranus doesn't trust anyone except Neptune, and Neptune wants the planets to forgive all of their debts, which most won't do. Pluto won't state their decision until everyone else does because they already know what's going to happen and don't want to influence any decisions. And..."

Serenity paused and looked at Luna. She nodded for her queen to go on. Serenity swallowed, making time pass as slowly as possible. She was doing her best to make it. "And no one trusts the moon queen because she's at least 4 years younger than all of them."

Luna smiled. Queen Serenity surely could handle this. She was a strong girl.

Serenity pulled the corners of her mouth up and entered the room as gracefully as she could.

Luna sighed. But she was just a girl.

* * *

><p>The rulers of all nine planets were arguing.<p>

Queen Serenity knew no other way to describe it. She didn't want to intrude; after all, she wasn't a planetary ruler, and they already thought bad enough of her. But they wouldn't get any work done if they kept up like this. And Serenity couldn't stay in the doorway forever. She looked around and caught Queen Moirae's eye. It took everything in her not to grin. She had found a way to call attention to herself and still use manners.

"It is very nice to see you again, Serenity. I'm sorry for your loss and for the fact that such a position is being forced on someone your age," Moirae said. She sounded sincere enough, Serenity thought, but you could never be sure with Moirae.

Serenity gave a gracious nod. "Thank you for your condolences, Moirae, but, as I'm sure we all know, this is a diplomatic meeting. I would like to keep my mother's work going. She would want that."

Serenity couldn't help but be proud of her wording. Not only did it seem to stop the arguments, everyone seemed to be taking her more seriously. She tried to keep her beaming to a minimum. She was a _professional._

Khione straightened. "I'm sure you've been debriefed on recent events, Serenity? We will begin as we do every time, order of planets, then the moon."

Serenity nodded. "That is fine. Let us begin, then, Khione."

The queen pushed a strand of her blue hair behind her ear. "First of all, my people still ask that we receive Uranian and Neptunian protection." She raised her cup of tea slowly and surely. Shy and quiet, Serenity decided, but determined to get her way. She could outsmart nearly anyone in this room, but she didn't, and for that, Serenity rewarded her with a smile. Khione merely gave a slightly condescending gaze back as she took a long sip.

"How do we know that your technology will work?" Queen Oreithyia demanded—stubborn, prejudiced, and slightly overprotective, but good-hearted, Serenity decided. Khione seemed slightly annoyed, and everyone in the room was alerted of this by the means of the teacups clattering against the marble.

"Are you implying that you do not trust us?" the calculating queen asked. Her voice betrayed none of irritation, but she did rise from her chair.

Galene stepped in. "Not at all. Uranus is simply insuring that all sides of the party will do as asked." Galene was graceful and careful with what she said, but she was not the type to dance around what she wanted. Serenity thought it suited her to _provide_ the music which fueled the dance.

"We will," said Khione firmly and sat back down in her seat, making everyone know she was finished. Queen Philyra rose.

"I'm afraid I was unable to explain precisely what I meant at the last meeting," the blonde said with a sweet smile. "The reason we Venusians want all control over marriage is simply because we _know_ what matches are right for each other. This way, there will be no woman—or as cases may be, man or whatever the person identifies as—scorned. This system will be easily regulated."

Everyone seemed to be considering it. Serenity was desperate to make her place in this conversation, as she had already determined Philyra was too kind and generous. She probably needed the help.

"But, Philyra, will you have time to do this for the whole solar system? There are a lot of people coming of age right now," said Serenity.

Alala frowned and coughed, her hand clad in a vinaceous glove covering her lips. "Like you." The Lunishwoman did not frown, and no matter how appealing it seemed, nor did she stick out her tongue. Brash and fiery Alala had always rubbed her the wrong way.

"I propose that you regulate all inter-planetary marriages, simply because this could prevent wars from happening. I'm sure everyone is able to handle disputes between their own citizens."

Everyone stared. Serenity wondered if she'd said something wrong.

"Serenity has a point. I support her proposal," Astrape, the most just queen in the room, said. After a few moments, Oreithyia and Galene agreed. Eyes focused on shy Keres and Khione. They nodded their consent.

"I like the idea," Philyra interjected along with her agreements. As always when the majority was reached, Moirae put in her vote. Only Endymion and Alala were left. They shrugged it off, for their votes would have no effect.

"Venus has no more requirements. We are ready to join the Silver Alliance. Endymion?" she urged.

The king stood. "I'm sure you're all aware of what we want."

Moirae looked exasperated, a feat considering her easy temper and knowledge of future events. "Endymion, as you know, we cannot allow regular mortals to train with any senshi. It is simply not wise."

"But surely we could allow to train with non-magical soldiers?" Serenity said. All eyes were immediately on her. Serenity seriously considered darting out of the room right then, with the condescending looks she was receiving.

"Serenity, Earth is the only planet with non-magical soldiers," Galene explained carefully. Serenity flushed, lips trembling. She resisted the urge to flee from the room.

"Oh."

Endymion sat down, slightly defeated. Now Alala's turn, she looked pointedly at the wall.

"Get Saturn out of this and we're good to go."

Queen Philyra nudged her as if to scold her behavior.

"We have made it very clear that that is not an option, Alala," Astrape said coldly. Serenity now raised her eyes to sneak a peek at the Jovian. She seemed calm and in control, but she was slowly leaning to Keres as if to hide her. It made Serenity smile a little. It seemed nice to have someone so willing to protect another.

"But it is my stipulation," countered the Martian, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder and focusing her eyes past Astrape to the queen of Saturn.

"It is a stipulation that we will not grant," interjected Endymion. Serenity was surprised to hear him speak for this.

Alala huffed. She looked around the table and asked, "How many of us truly wish for Keres to be here?"

Astrape and Endymion voiced their opinions immediately. Serenity chirped, "I do!" in her sweet, cheerful tone, that _also _seemed to derive derision from her companions.

"It is in bad taste to leave out one when all others are included," said Khione softly.

It was silent. Then Alala said, "I'm done. I've told you what I want, and if you will not grant it, I have nothing else to say." She then looked to Astrape, who nodded on to Keres, who nodded on to Oreithyia and Galene.

"I believe we've given our opinion once already," said Galene calmly. Murmurs floated around the table as they tried to decide a next topic of business.

"Until we agree, we will accomplish nothing," said Serenity.

"We are all aware," said Alala.

Serenity clenched her teeth. "What I was saying was that without reaching an agreement, there is little else we can accomplish in terms of this alliance."

"Serenity is right." Moirae rose. "This meeting is adjourned." The sovereigns quickly began to gather their things and file out the room, some at ease and some rather discomfited. Serenity looked around for a moment before pressing her hands to the table to lift herself awkwardly and turning towards the door.

"Wait, Serenity!" Said girl turned to see the Venusian queen waving her over. Serenity walked to the blonde warily. "I was wondering if you planned to continue our private alliance. Your mother was intending for it to remain separate from the Silver," Venus said pointedly. She flashed a brighter smile than earlier to enforce her words.

Serenity gave her most diplomatic smile. "I'm afraid that since I've been in mourning, my advisor hasn't quite been able to tell me about that. We will oversee that soon though." The moon queen turned to leave and met up with her advisor in the hall.

"How did it go, Serenity?"

"Good, I think," the fifteen-year-old replied cheerfully. "I got Philyra to agree, so there are now four of us that are ready! Maybe it will work out soon!"

Luna, unable to resist, patted her queen's head fondly. "That's wonderful. Now, we better get home."

Serenity nodded.

* * *

><p>Queen Serenity was not a morning person. She had not been as a princess, and no one expected that to change It was no surprise to Luna when she stumbled into the dining room near noon, still slightly disoriented. "Guh…"—yawn—"good morning, Luna…" The dark-haired woman smiled at her queen.<p>

"Good morning, Serenity." Luna placed a roll on a plate and poured a glass of juice, pushing both to Serenity's seat at the table. Serenity smiled, accepting the food eagerly.

"You know, yesterday, Philyra asked me about a separate alliance. What did she mean?" Serenity stuffed the roll in her mouth, chewing quickly before taking a sip of juice.

Luna paused, setting her work down on the table. "I have no idea. In fact, Queen Selene wasn't on very good terms with Philyra." Luna frowned. No...

"But… she said…" Serenity stuttered.

Luna inhaled sharply and lowered her head. "Philyra tricked you. I have to admit, that girl is a master at strategy. Everyone else perceives her as a dimwit who will go along with anything. She made it look like your mother forced her into an alliance that wasn't agreed upon with the rest of them and that you were going to continue the ill treatment. She's playing the victim. But why? …Serenity, did you do anything to upset her yesterday? At all? Think!"

"Well… I did suggest she change her requirements to only interplanetary marriages… But she agreed upon it!" Serenity defended.

Luna sighed. "Only because she's not supposed to be the type to stand her ground. You've incurred her wrath. So soon too. Now, you'll do best to work around Philyra and her closer allies."

Serenity looked sheepish.

"Neither Khione nor Alala will have any sort of faith in you. Astrape is somewhat close to Philyra, but she'd be willing to give you a chance. From my experience, she has a good sense of judgment." Serenity made a face. "Oh, Serenity, stop that! You're fifteen-years-old, and you're a—"

"Queen, Luna," supplied Serenity. "And I don't suppose you would have spoken to my mother than way, would you?" Her bright blue eyes dared her to defy her. Perhaps Serenity enjoyed her arguments a little too much. Luna reminded herself to scold Artemis for indulging her in this pastime.

Luna let out a long breath. "As I was saying, Astrape is a very fair ruler, and she always judges people by their own merits. She excludes no one, which is why she is so close to Keres. Now, Neptune and Uranus… Selene only agreed to forgive part of the debt. I think we can manage without it though, so I suggest make an impression on the queens that way, although I cannot guarantee that will completely salvage their image of you. Keres will be happy to have you, but you _will_ make some people mad. You can't do much about Moirae. You need to work your way in more before. Your best bet would be to try Endymion, but if you can't convince him, the moon might lose its place in the Silver Alliance."

Serenity pursed her lips and thought about it. Endymion. Endymion, Endymion, her childhood torturer. "Oh, Luna, surely Endymion knows to trust his closest neighbor," she said innocently. "I think I'll be fine!" Thus, the queen grabbed another roll and stuffed in her mouth before running off.

Luna closed her eyes, crossed her fingers, and hoped for the best.

**I like the way this piece turned out. I've had this idea in my head for the longest time. What could be more interesting than a girl thrown into the world of politics where everyone is older than her and no one truly believe in her abilities? Then I remembered, in some ways, Usagi is like that.**

**Now I don't want you to think I favor any senshi by the way I wrote them. For the record, Minako is one of my favorite senshi, but I think this is something she would do. I can imagine Makoto being fairly trusting with the outer rulers, and Rei fairly suspicious. I like the way the senshi turned out though. Also, I may need to explain ages. As you all should know, Serenity is barely fifteen. Saturn, the next, is four years older at nineteen. Jupiter is a year older than her, and Mars and Mercury are about the same age—twenty. Venus is the same age as Endymion. Endymion mentions that he has passed his nineteenth birthday and he states this in a way that tells you it wasn't too recent. He is currently twenty-two. Uranus and Neptune are twenty-five, and Pluto is the Guardian of Time so revealing that would be rather pointless. **

**Are there any senshi that weren't included enough though? I want to make it as even as possible because Usagi kind of loves everybody evenly (expect for her prince!). I'll fix it by the time I write the next chapter if that's true.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Foremost, those of you who did not read the revised version of chapter one need to. I added a scene critical to the plot. Also, I hope you noticed that this chapter is fairly long—by standards, at the least. I worked hard to make this for you, to apologize for any wait.**

**For those of you who like to talk, feel welcome to message me. I would love to make friends on this website. I'd talk a little more, but I want to get this chapter and I think I may be having an allergic reaction, so I need to go take some medicine. Read on!**

**Revised 2014-10-28: I'm going through all the chapters and fixing them up. I'm determined to finish this fic, but my writing has vastly improved during my hiatus, and I feel the need to have this show through all chapters. As soon as I finishing revising, I'll work on the next chapter.**

Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom seemed to be a people person, Philyra mused as she approached her home planet. Like herself, she giggled as an afterthought. Surely, no one assumed her bubbly attitude was completely fake? Her friends—Khione, Alala, and perhaps Astrape, although she could be considered a friend to all—certainly didn't. If anything, they knew her lie was just a test of the moon queen. After all, she was young, never having been all that close when they were children either, and the moon was just a little too different from everyone else. Many distrusted her already. This was a way for Serenity to prove herself. Venus glanced back at the glorified space rock orbiting around her planetary kingdom's twin.

Serenity could use Endymion to get closer. Philyra would admit that all the queens admired him somewhat. They would respect his judgment. Venus sighed. Serenity shouldn't have it that easy. She needed to prove herself. Philyra thought it was only fair. A smile graced her freshly glossed lips. Perhaps she should get to know her neighboring planet. They were very similar after all.

(And, no, she was _not_ using this as a chance to look at his guards more closely!)

* * *

><p>How to show the planetary system the Lunish Kingdom only meant good. Luna had suggested using Endymion. Perhaps the idea had its merit. Serenity understood that he was trusted by most. If she could convince him to put his faith in her, finishing the others would be easy.<p>

Serenity bit her lip. When she had decided to forgo this mission, she had completely forgotten how much Endymion had hated her when they were children. To be frank, Serenity shared his feelings. She didn't really want to speak to him yet. There was also his letter. It sickened her! Why did courtiers feel the need to present such a phony persona? Serenity couldn't stand it. She had no intention of interacting with him for as long as she could put it off. She'd rather speak to Astrape and Keres. She brightened. Yes, that was it. She would invite Astrape and Keres to tea. Serenity sighed. She loved tea . . . as long as it had its fair amount of sugar, of course.

Twirling away from the corridor that housed all of the boring business rooms, Serenity glided down the stairs.

"Wait," exclaimed the queen to herself once she had descended the long stairwell. "I need to speak to Luna or Artemis, to send out the invitations!" A smile crept across her face. She began skipping—and tripping—around in her dress.

"Good day, my queen," a servant called pointedly. Serenity flushed when she realized she had been caught in the midst of her childish engagements.

She smiled. "G-good day. I hope you are not feeling overworked."

The servant opened his mouth to protest.

"If you are," she continued, "I could hire more. It might help those unemployed. I would like to improve the economy of the Lunars."

"We are fine, my queen, but if you wish to hire, no one would be against it," replied the servant. "Of course, I must warn you: There are people who would position themselves inside the castle to rid of you."

Serenity opened her mouth to protest of the silliness, but remembered that she had not realized the capabilities of someone before. She could take no chances. "Thank you for warning me. I am very gratified. You may continue." The servant exited his queen's presence. She resumed her previous actions.

"Well, then, I suppose I must make haste to the kitchen. I will check and see if we have enough tea and sugar. We must prepared for the arrival," reasoned the girl and she skipped off to the kitchen, where all the kitchen maids knew she was really after one of the freshly baked cookies on the counter.

* * *

><p>"Serenity!" Luna cried. "My goodness, child, you disappear to the oddest places!"<p>

Serenity giggled. "I apologize, Luna. Where is Artemis? I have a task for him."

"Right here, my queen," the white-haired man greeted as he entered the kitchen, taking one of Serenity's cookies for himself. She forced herself to protest, but she truly didn't mind. This was a man who had played with her when she was a child. She cared deeply for him. Serenity invited her two advisors to take a seat. They did so, sitting next to each other, an action that nearly made their queen sigh. She believed them to be one of the most adorable pairs she had ever met. She wished they would marry. Then, she could declare their line the Line of Lunar Advisor.

Then again, she realized, her advisors were from Mau. She couldn't really do that. She didn't have the authority.

"Serenity! You are a queen—act like one! No spacing out," chastised Luna.

Serenity's cheeks heated a little under her sun-darkened skin. "My apologies, Luna. Um, again. Now, may I ask how the two of you get along with the queens of Jupiter and Saturn?"

Luna paused briefly before taking a bite of a cookie. "I suppose Keres and I are on good enough terms. However, Astrape and I don't see eye to eye in many ways." Serenity was reminded of a story her mother told about Luna and Astrape at a meeting, in which Astrape made the slightest insinuation that the moon did not have everyone's benefits in mind, and Luna decided to jump in. Of course, that was not allowed, as she was only an advisor, and Astrape was thus angered. Serenity had found the story very amusing at the time. Now she felt a little teary at the thought that she would never again hear an anecdote from her mother.

"Really?" Artemis wondered. "I always liked Queen Astape."

Serenity said, "Artemis, you must ask Queen Astrape, Luna, Queen Keres, to tea. I would like to have tea with them."

Luna gave a sharp nod to Serenity. "Very well. Should I invite any others?"

"No, I fear that Keres's presence upsets many others. I shall have them some other time," explained the queen. "Goodness, I am tired. I will retire to my rooms for now. Wake me up when it's dinner time, Luna!"

The dark-haired woman nearly chuckled. She seemed to have a lot of energy for someone retiring so early. She called after her, half-heartedly chiding, "Serenity, please, it is not proper for a queen to take so many naps."

* * *

><p>The violet clad queen entered the room silently. The word echoed in Serenity's head, and she resisted the urge to shiver. It was not as if Queen Keres had drawn her glaive, and she suffered enough from this. But the knowledge of what this small woman could do did unnerve her, Serenity would admit.<p>

"Good afternoon, Keres. How do you take your tea?" asked the moon queen cheerfully, almost bouncing on her heels in excitement. She instinctively reached for the kettle, ready to pour and serve and prove herself.

Keres smiled softly at the young queen's antics. "I do not know. It has been too long; the last time I drank anything herbal was on that last visit to Earth, just before Endymion became too old to play with us. How do you like yours, Serenity?"

Serenity giggled at the memory. She had dumped her tea on Endymion's head that day. "I prefer mine with four lumps of sugar, but perhaps you would prefer something less . . . er . . ." Serenity lowered her head, her ears turning pink. She could not think of the word! Of all the times this had to happen, it had to happen in the middle of a moment when she was trying to befriend someone.

"I believe you mean something that won't clog your veins, Serenity," Astrape injected jovially. "I remember you always did love sweets. Ke, you preferred your tea plain. If I'm not being a bother, Serenity, might I have green tea? I have to train when I return, and black tea makes me feel drowsy."

"Of course, Astrape. Let me call the cook." Serenity turned in her stark white chair. "Lulu, please brew a pot of green tea! Thank you." She returned to her guests. "I am ever so glad you could join me. It is very nice to have company. I haven't been able to speak with anyone since . . . ." Serenity trailed off, not wishing to make a bad hostess of herself by reminding the two of the fact that no one had considered to visit their princess friend once they took crown. She wasn't complaining, truly, but the thought made Serenity feel she'd had a lonely childhood.

"I am glad to see you as well, Serenity. It is a pleasure to meet outside of a business setting. Pardon me for bringing the subject up, but I am rather curious. Tell me, what do you make of the conditions the other queens—and Endymion," Keres added belatedly with color reaching her ivory cheeks, "have set?"

Serenity sipped her tea, buying some time to consider her answer. "I wish Oreithyia would be more trusting of Khione—I do not believe she would do anything problematic. And I am willing to settle with Neptune's debts. But I wish Alala would be a little less . . . judgmental, for lack of a better word."

"Yes," Astrape agreed. "If anything, Alala is judgmental. She'll relent eventually, when Philyra deigns to convince her." Keres gave her older friend a harsh look.

"Speaking of Queen Philyra," continued Keres, "what did she mean by the separate alliance?"

"Oh!" gasped Serenity. "I had nearly forgotten. I asked Artemis—silly me—and I do believe Philyra meant it in jest. We have no separate alliance."

Keres seemed skeptical. "Jest?" she questioned softly.

"What else could it be?" asked Serenity. She pushed a strand of hair out of her face, although it fell right back, and she fussed with it again. Eventually relenting to her hair's wishes, she said, "There is not nor has there ever been a private alliance, so what else could I make of it but a joke?"

Keres and Astrape did not seem entirely convinced. They studied the girl for a moment but then turned away, as if they had decided she had nothing to hide.

Astrape smiled and decided to change the subject. "Very well. Now, then, you_ must_ tell us what you think about Endymion. And no proper pretenses! We've known you since the day you sprung from your mother's womb"—Keres gasped at Astrape's lack of subtlety in word choice—"and I would much rather gossip outright than pretend to be a stuffy old queen."

Serenity heaved a sigh out as she considered her feelings for Endymion. Considering everything, from the name-calling, hair-pulling, teasing, to the letter, proper behavior, slight flirtation-ness he carried with all the queens . . . . Serenity truly did not wish to disclose her opinion of the man. But she must, she knew. She glanced around her tea room in hopes it knew how to be tactful. Alas, the portraits of the moon queens and the marble statues gave her no ideas. She turned back to the queens in front of her. As always, Astrape's eyes were lit in a way that showed all of her interest, as she bit her lip to hide her grin, and Keres seemed intrigued as well.

"I can honestly say," said Serenity finally, "that my opinion has not changed since I met him."

At that, Astrape could no longer hide her mirth. She gave a hearty laugh. "You don't care for him much, do you? Yes, I remember how he bothered you."

"I believe he was infatuated with you," Keres said suddenly. "I can almost imagine it: Endymion asking his mother if she could arrange your marriage after seeing your little three-year-old self. Gaia might have laughed and informed him he needed to ask the young princess herself. So when he went to meet with her, his mouth went numb and he could do nothing but insult her from there on." Keres sighed with slight romanticism.

Astrape looked over to her friend and gave a look of disbelief. SHe rolled her eyes before turning to Serenity and giving her say. "I do not believe Endymion ever had a crush on you, but he did mention that he actually liked your hair once."

"Oh, really?" Serenity peaked with interest. She opened her mouth to ask for clarification when another spoke.

"Queen Serenity, I am afraid we have no herbs left. We need to visit Earth for more," said the cook. No one had heard her enter. Astrape's mood fouled instantly, although she maintained enough decorum to attempt concealment. Serenity gave an apologetic look to her colleague.

"Would you like something else to drink instead?" she offered, hastily giving a mental check of what she had to offer.

Astrape shook her head and sat back against her chair. "I hope my suggestion is no bother, Serenity, but perhaps we could just take a trip to Earth. We are fairly close after all."

Keres gave her consent, with a short statement of how she wished to speak to Endymion. Serenity fought the urge to pout. She had hoped to put off a visit with Endymion, but it seemed fate worked against her. She gave a short reply of, "Very well," to Jupiter and asked Luna to send word to Endymion that they would be dropping by very shortly for a _brief_ visit and the purchase of some supplies.

* * *

><p>At the training grounds of the palace of the royal Terran family gathered a group of five, a young king and his four closest men, advisors, guards, or whatever they were needed to be. To one side, two young men, both fair in complexion and hair, were sparring. To the other, the dark-haired king and his American general were facing off against the leader of the group, to which a match of two versus one almost futile for the <em>two<em>. The door that led to the hallway creaked open, and in popped a small messenger, beckoning the king forth. The leader lowered his sword, wondering what would be of such importance to interrupt the training session. At this point, all motion in the room had ceased, and the four generals clouded together.

"It's most likely Alliance related," the longer-haired blond of the group reasoned.

The short-haired blond groaned. "It seems as if it never ends! All Dymi does anymore is work for stuff for that dumb alliance."

"It is his duty," said the leader. "Jadeite, surely you understand this."

"What I understand is that this alliance takes too much of his attention and we're left running the kingdom," said Jadeite.

The brunette rolled his eyes. He said, "We are perfectly capable of caring for the nation in the king's absence. It is one of our duties, after all."

Jadeite seemed inclined to argue, but the leader tossed him a look, and with that, Jadeite resigned himself to silence. The other three busied themselves as they waited for Endymion to return. Kunzite stood at attention, most likely deep in thought. Nephrite took the chance to polish his sword. Zoisite undid his hair and began to retie it so that strands were not slipping into his face.

Then Endymion was returning, racing over in partial armor, which he continued to remove as he spoke.

"Kunzite, go retrieve the herbs—the ones we sell to the Lunish Kingdom. The rest of you—do _something_," he ordered, his voice betraying his agitation, and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. He snorted. Serenity would be displeased with its state, and he suspected that Keres would share her sentiments, although not her self-righteous declaration of them. Astrape would ignore it. She trained all the time, and she knew how tired it could make a person. It was too bad for his childhood enemy, though, that he simply had no time to cleanse it with the few minutes before her arrival. Perhaps he felt an indecent satisfaction in that, but if he did, Endymion was not inclined to confess it.

"What's going on?" Nephrite asked as the five men walked back to the storage room to put their armor away.

Endymion sighed. "Serenity, Keres, and Astrape have found the need for an impromptu visit. Serenity's advisor mentioned they were of the intention to purchase a few things while here, herbs being one of them."

"Will there be any others joining them?" Jadeite asked hopefully. He had made it common knowledge among his friend that he enjoyed bothering the Martian queen. Endymion told him that no, it was just the three, and his generals left him, off to their own daily duties.

Endymion thus hurried to the landing grounds, preparing himself to greet his uninvited guests. He reminded himself to be kind. Old habit die hard, but Endymion knew he needed Serenity's support, and, besides, incurring the disdain of Keres and Astrape by teasing Serenity would not be ideal. He stood to the side and waited patiently until a Lunish ship arrived on the grounds, and the three queens exited, albeit one reluctantly.

"Good day, Endymion! I'm glad we were able to see you. Serenity invited Keres and me to tea, and we thought it would be nice to see you since we were in the area," Astrape immediately burst into explaination. The king nodded graciously.

"We are always happy to see childhood friends at the palace, Jupiter, though I welcome you to be less formal. We have known each other too long for that," Endymion said.

Kere's face lit up. "Why, Jupiter just said that to Serenity earlier! Your words are being turned against you!" she jokingly warned her friend. Endymion smiled fondly at the two and turned his attention to the silver-haired girl at their side,

"Good day, Serenity," said the king, taking kissing her hand so softly it tickled. Serenity fought the urge to laugh. The only thing that managed to keep it in was the curious thought that Endymion had whiskers that brushed her skin when he'd leaned down. It was such a strange idea that she could scarcely wrap her head around it. She was brought to reality when Endymion spoke again: "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of a visit from you since I was a child."

Serenity averted her gaze. Oh, excuses, excuses. What was the excuse for this Luna had drilled into her head? She tried to remember. "I worried I was be a disturbance to those who had newly taken hold of their kingdoms." More than anything, Queen Selene had asked that Serenity stay out of the way, but Luna believed that this statement would present her as more mature. But her words hardly registered to anyone.

Endymion released her hand and turned to all of his guests. "Come inside. It is not right to leave guests standing here so long." And thus the four turned to the door and made their way inside.

**I'm very proud of this chapter. It took about three hours to write, but the ideas kept pouring out. I was worried I'd have trouble writing a chapter without a meeting, but it was no trouble at all. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go knock on wood.**

**I hope Saturn and Jupiter fans liked this chapter. I welcome any criticism you have. I intend to become an author one day, so this will help me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I had a little trouble writing this chapter, but that's because the whole story is finally coming together in my brain. The next chapters should be easy though.**

**Just as a warning, Saturn's personality is a plot element later.**

**Revised 2014-10-29: Still going through and editing everything. Not sure how long this will take, but please excuse discrepancies in the story for the time being.**

Mornings on the moon were not particularly standard. As far as lunar days went, the night and day both lasted too long in their own time. For such reasons, the moon operated on Terran Standard Time instead, but this belied another problem: the darkness of each waking morning for two weeks.

The queen in particularly was rather difficult to wake during those periods, as the darkness seemed to draw her only closer to sleep. Her advisors found this aggravating, but what were they to do, other than attempt to wake her?

This was the task Artemis de Mau had been given. "Serenity," he said gently, nudging the girl's shoulder. She murmured sleepily and turned to her other side, her long hair falling over her face. Artemis wondered if that made it difficult to breathe. He smiled fondly. "Serenity, you must wake."

He nudged her again, this time a little more firmly. When Serenity did not move at all, he resorted to the tactic Luna had advised. "Serenity, get up!"

Serenity's blue eyes snapped open. She mumbled, "I'm awake," and closed her eyes again. She just needed a little more rest . . . .

"Serenity! You have an Alliance meeting in five minutes!" scolded Artemis.

The queen's eyes fluttered open, though just barely, the midnight blue of her irises just peeking out. "Alliance? What Alliance?"

"The one with all the planets," reminded Artemis.

"Oh, yes," said Serenity, her voice barely audible as she mumbled out her words. "Oh! Oh, Artemis, why didn't you wake me sooner?"

The girl stumbled out of bed, all thoughts of rest gone. She grabbed a gown from her wardrobe and hurried to her dressing room. Once the gown was partially on, she tumbled out, falling to her knees as she attempted to fasten the ties in the back. Luna, who had just entered to see if Serenity had woken, stifled a laugh and kneeled to fix it for her. Serenity smiled thankfully and then turned to her dresser. She pulled her hair up and fumbled with her hair ties. As soon as she managed to get her buns in, Serenity slipped her feet into her slippers, very reluctantly. Luna handed the royal pearls to the queen who stuck them in in a frenzy.

"How are we going to get there on time?" whined Serenity. Luna put her hand on the queen's shoulder and informed her that today's meeting would be held in the Moon Palace. Serenity groaned and lifted her skirt as she rushed to the meeting room.

"Good day, Serenity," Khione greeted cordially as the youngest queen entered the room. "I'm glad to see you could join us."

Serenity flushed. "I apologize. Something came up . . . ." Like sleep, Serenity thought. Not that she would tell Khione, or anything else in the room. She could not risk being ridiculed for that. She took her seat and listened as the conversation started back up.

"Khione, you can hardly blame us for doubting Mercury's willingness to follow through on its end of the bargain," said Oreithyia.

Khione sighed, her irritation absolutely clear. "Oreithyia, I give you my word. What more can I say than that? You have no reason to distrust me. If you would just accept what is going on, we could move on in the Alliance."

Oreithyia scowled. "I have every reason to—"

"Thank you, Khione. Oreithyia will mull it over," interrupted Galene as she pulled her neighbor back into her seat. Oreithyia did not seem happy at being silenced, but a look from Galene calmed her. Serenity blinked as she tried to understand what was going on. Was every meeting going to be the same?

Endymion sat a little straighter, taking the opportunity to voice his wishes again. "I assure you, my soldiers can take on any of your senshi."

Moirae shook her head, surprising everyone for she had never spoken her own opinions on matters. "Endymion, that is not a good idea. Your soldiers could be seriously injured."

The dark-haired king glowered. His dark blue eyes stared at every one of his fellow monarchs. He opened his mouth and calmly said, "If they are, it would be good experience. Over time, they would learn to withstand attacks from magical enemies. It would be beneficial to the solar system."

Moirae muttered something and shook her head. Endymion looked defiantly on the other rulers.

"I am afraid I agree. It's too dangerous. Magic can severely handicap people if the spell is cast in the right way. Endymion, you would then have a lack of soldiers. Perhaps you should reconsider your requirement," said Serenity. She could feel the eyes questioning her and willed her cheeks to stay pale. She had to remain calm. She was doing alright. She had made a valid point. No one would mock her.

Endymion said nothing more. Alala said that she was not going to repeat herself, as she had already made herself perfectly clear. The majority of the room deigned to ignore her.

Galene let out a frustrated sigh. "Surely the only way we will accomplish anything is if we can establish mutual trust.."

Serenity glanced up at her. She agreed, but she wasn't sure it was possible. How rarely did a group manage to maintain true trust. And so often when one side did, it was often too late to do anything when betrayal was discovered. There was nothing to hold anyone to their promises. It saddened Serenity that everyone had to be so distrusting, particularly now that she had to look out for these things. Looking at this group, these people who had once considered each other good friends, she almost believed that Luna was right about Philyra. It wouldn't hurt her to watch out, after all. Even if Philyra didn't, others might take advantage of the Lunish Kingdom, and as queen, it was Serenity's duty to prevent that. Lifting a lock of her silver hair, Serenity began to twirl it as she waited for the meeting to end.

Keres glanced in her direction and giggled. She leaned over. "Serenity, one of your pearls is crooked."

The Lunish queen's face brightened as she reached up and straightened it. She whispered back to Keres, "Was it crooked the entire time I was here?"

"Yes. Alala was laughing about it with Endymion—well, he didn't laugh, but she was talking _to_ him and laughing—and Galene kept glancing at it," answered Keres.

Serenity wanted to groan—here in her own, silver palace, she woke up late and dressed poorly. It would be a wonder if any of the planets took her seriously at this point. She looked around. Astrape waved discreetly and continued discussing her ideas with Galene. She look back to the other end. Khione smiled. Serenity turned her head to the queen beside her. At least she had Keres. Keres seemed to value Serenity's friendship.

Thus, another meeting consisting entirely of arguments and strife ensued. Serenity found little reason to pay attention, much too distracted by her own embarrassment. Before she realized, it had grown late.

"Serenity, I believe we are finished," said Moirae. "Thank you for allowing us to meet here."

"It was nice to see you all," Serenity replied half-heartedly. The sovereigns began to leave the room. Astrape rushed up to her friend and laughed.

"Goodness, Serenity, what happened? When you walked in, you have three crooked pearls and one in your hand. Your shoe was half-on and you were panting. Surely there must be a story behind this."

Serenity looked to the window. If only she could've pretended to be distracted by the ever-changing clouds on Earth. "I woke up late, so I had to run to get here and apparently I was too tired to get dressed correctly."

"So that's why you didn't greet us," Keres joined in. "I hate to leave so abruptly, Serenity, but my people are thinking of ring colonization, and I need to discuss it with my advisors. Good day!"

"Perhaps I should leave too." Astrape gave an inquisitive, almost concerned, look. "You must have a lot of paperwork to do if you couldn't retire to bed at a decent time."

Serenity smiled and bid her friend farewell. Looking around, she saw that she was finally alone. She walked out of the meeting room and turned into the next room, her office. She sat down to sign a few forms. Much to her astonishment, the stacks almost looked soft. Maybe she could lay her head down for just a minute. Then she would sign the papers. Yes, that would be no trouble at all . . . .

* * *

><p>When Serenity awoke, she was mortified to realize that she had been sleeping on her work. She looked at her desk to inspect the damages. A couple papers had drool on them. She reddened. It wouldn't be any trouble to redo those at least. Some were wrinkled, but that wouldn't do any harm. She also hadn't spilled any ink in her sleep. Dipping her pen, she started to work on what she should have been doing for the past hour or so.<p>

"My queen? May I come in?" called Luna from outside the door. Serenity nodded without realizing she couldn't see her. "Serenity?"

"Oh, yes!"

Luna entered softly. "Queen Khione has invited you to dinner this evening."

"Oh?" asked Serenity. "That's nice."

"You need to travel, Serenity, as in, you need to stand up and walk outside so you can leave," explained Luna. Serenity nodded as if she hadn't paid attention. Luna made an exasperated sigh. She woman raised the queen out of her chair and led her outside.

"Luna, where are we going?"

"Mercury. Khione invited you to dinner," the advisor reminded.

"What? Why didn't she ask me while she was here? We could've ridden there together," complained the queen.

Luna said, "Khione told me that she had intended to, but Astrape and Keres had caught you up in conversation and she didn't want to interrupt." Serenity released a small noise of understanding.

"She could have waited though," mumbled Serenity.

"Am I correct in assuming that you perhaps chattered for a while?"

"Not that long!" Serenity defended. She steadied herself on her feet and removed herself from Luna's arms. "Do you know why Khione suddenly extended this invitation?"

Luna shook her head. "This could be to your advantage, Serenity."

"Yes," the queen agreed absently.

* * *

><p>Khione shivered and pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders. It would only be an hour until the sun disappeared from the horizon. Perhaps it would surprise many, but Khione didn't particularly care for the freezing nights on Mercury. She didn't mind cold weather, of course, but there were some occasions at which Khione felt as if her entire body were to turn to ice. Ridiculous, she knew, and she told herself so, but nothing dissuaded the thought.<p>

Khione looked to the sky. Serenity would soon arrive. The Mercurian took a step and lifted the science journal from the arm of the chair, lowering herself into the seat. Perhaps she could resume her studies for a moment or two.

"My lady, Queen Serenity has arrived," a servant murmured and ducked out of the room. Khione rose and made her way to the dining room. She opened the door to find Serenity already seated and looking around in amazement.

"Good day, Serenity."

The silver-haired leaped. "Oh, hello, Khione. I didn't realize Mercurians were artistic. I'd always thought your culture was more focused on . . . ." The child made a face as she attempted to put her thoughts to words. "Focused on science and math and everything logical. Art doesn't seem like any of that."

"Not particularly," Khione admitted. "I myself don't see it much. . . . But there are a few who use the trajectory of light to cause shadows and proportions to calculate the angles of objects and transform it into a lifelike image. Some also make a study of how images are viewed in the mind's eye, such as trying to determine how lifelike a work must be to trigger certain reactions in a person's brain."

"I'm afraid I understood very little of what you said. But it is amazing in here," agreed Serenity, staring at the elaborate decorations on the ceiling. A laugh escaped Khione's lips. She wondered if Serenity paid any mind to what came out of her mouth. Her lack of filter was almost endearing.

"Yes, it's lovely. My aunt painted it. My great-grandmother drew the blueprints for the architecture though," said Khione.

Serenity smiled. "I was rather surprised you invited me, Khione, but I am pleased. To tell you the truth, I've been bored since everyone was crowned. Not to say I wished to take it so soon, but . . . ."

"We missed you too, Serenity," Khione replied. "I don't think anyone realized how much we liked you until we didn't get to see you anymore. In many ways, you are a sister. I can say that for Philyra, Astrape, and me, at least. I rarely speak to the others." The blue-haired woman flushed at the admission.

Serenity giggled, pleased that she had so many friends. This seemed to be so fortunate for her. She was sure that Luna had been wrong about Philyra. Serenity would be happy to report this when she returned home.

Khione took her seat. Servants bustled around as they served the meal. The two queens made small talk for a long while, chatting about any and everything and eventually turning their attention to novels they had both enjoyed. (Khione was pleased to discover that Serenity had made some use of her time in studies, and Serenity was pleased that Khione had a hidden interest in romances.)

"I will be ever so pleased when the author releases the sequel," said Serenity. Her tone rose with her excitement. Khione nodded her agreement. The Mercurian took a sip from her goblet.

"Er, Serenity, if you don't mind, could you please do me a favor?" asked Khione swiftly.

"What?" Serenity wondered.

"I was hoping that maybe you could convince Galene and Oreithyia to place some faith my planet. They seem to like you well enough. Please do not think I'm not asking you to go out of your way or anything; just, if you see them . . . ." Khione gave a pleading smile.

Serenity chewed her lip. Was this the purpose in inviting her? She couldn't help but feel a little easily fooled. "I suppose I could do that, but, er, I have a few questions that I'd like to ask you, Khione." But all the better to change the subject. If Khione was going to use this dinner for political agenda, Serenity could have her own motives.

The Mercurian queen nodded. "Ask away."

"What exactly are senshi?" wondered Serenity.

Khione's fork fell to her plate. She stared at Serenity curiously for a moment. "Well," the blue-haired woman began, "a senshi in the terms you're thinking of is a soldier who uses magic. Most people are familiar with the Sailor senshi, often referred to as guardians according to their position. Every planet has one. In fact, every star or space rock has one. Sailor senshi are very rarely awakened though, only if the object they were born to protect is being threatened. Most don't even bother to detect who it is nowadays."

"Then, Queen Moirae . . . Would she perhaps be Sailor Pluto?" asked Serenity. This had long be a question in Serenity's mind.

Khione said, "She has never stated such, but I assume she is because she guards the Doors of Time."

"I see . . . So a Sailor senshi can spend their entire lifetime not knowing their duty?" Serenity replied, enrapt in the idea.

Khione nodded. "Actually, there is a theory that only females can be a Sailor. There has never once been a male who has had the correct Star Seed, though, so this cannot be proven."

"What's a Star Seed?"

"The center of power in a person. They are called Sailor Crystals for the Sailor senshi, though."

Serenity nodded. "Where do Star Seeds come from then?"

"I'm afraid it's been too long since I studied this," Khione admitted. "I think it has something to do with the story of Cosmos and Chaos, but I can't quite remember."

Cosmos and Chaos, Serenity thought. She reminded herself to scourge the library for those words. The topic of conversation then moved on.

At the end of the evening, Khione walked Serenity to her ship. "Thank you for coming, Serenity. It was very nice to speak to you."

"You as well, Khione! And thank you for inviting me—and answering my questions too," Serenity added cheerfully. "Well, I must head back now. Another day of work tomorrow. I wish Lunish holidays weren't so far apart. I'm ready for a vacation." The girl began to chatter of holidays that she would have exist. She was given a pointed look by the captain of her ship, and then Serenity hurried off.

As she watched the young queen go, Khione briefly wondered if it was wise to ask this flighty girl to complete this task. She thought back to Serenity's enjoyment of the senshi discussion. Flighty she may be, Serenity was not unintelligent, and Khione trusted her. After all, she had that certain quality. Khione was sure of it. If anyone could convince Galene and Oreithyia of Khione's intentions, it would be her.

* * *

><p>"'Dear Luna,'" she muttered to herself, "'As I feared, Sailor Mau has been defeated. I carry with me her Star Seed, but the Galaxy Cauldron has not recalled it. I wish to visit the cauldron, but I fear it is too dangerous now that I know Guardian Cosmos is hidden away somewhere. Chaos must have escaped because that is the only reason she would ever leave her position. It means too much to her.<p>

"'Your work is dangerous, and I cannot help but fear for you. I know that you would remind me you understood what the mission you undertook would entail, but guarding those women, particularly the girl, is such a dangerous task. I fear for you now more than ever.

"'Luna, I will remind you that your duty as a Star advisor must come first. You are to protect the girl. If you see a hint of trouble, you must awaken all of the Sailor senshi in the galaxy you are in. As I recall, Sailor Pluto has been awake for centuries now, so perhaps you could enlist her help if you run into any trouble.

"'I cannot adequately describe to you how bad things have become here. Without the Guardians protecting the order, everyone is trying to gain power. I just hope that wherever she is, Guardian Cosmos is restoring order.

"'Love,'" read Luna, "'Mewla.'"

Luna set the letter on the desk. She hesitated for a moment, then tossed it in the fire. She could not run the risk of Serenity stumbling open its contents.

"Mewla worries too much," Luna told herself. She stretched back. She had too long been in this form. She felt sore so often now. But it wouldn't be much longer, she hoped. Soon, Serenity would be ready.

**I know this is fairly short, but I have much I need to put in the other chapters.**

**I hadn't originally intended for this to go much deeper than the initial Sailor Moon, but I found myself including everything, so I hope it doesn't become too confusing in the later chapters. **


	4. Chapter 4

**As I write this, I have just successfully put my hair in odangos. Goodness, that was hard. I'm starting to think Chibiusa's hair style was come across by mistake because I ended up with something close to it. But honestly, I love this hairstyle and so does my mom. It's my new lounge around hairstyle.**

**I won't bore you any longer. You can see how Serenity is faring.**

"Neptune invited me?" murmured Serenity as she signed yet another paper. She shuffled for another one through the mess that she knew would be better if she only organized it into signed and unsigned piles could not be bothered to. She had trouble deciphering between the desk and the papers. White marble was troublesome, but so was anything from Earth (i.e. Endymion, Serenity added to herself). Now that she thought about it, a lot of things on the Moon were Earth-made. What did the Moon make? Serenity didn't even know. "When is it for?" she asked, remembering the current conversation.

"Tomorrow. She wishes to catch up, I believe," replied Luna.

Serenity nodded. "I see. I suppose I might as well speak to her now. Convince her that Venus meant no harm, all in jest—that reminds me, Luna, perhaps she could have truly been speaking in jest? Mercury mentioned that they—Jupiter, Venus, and herself—thought of me as a sister. Venus wouldn't do something like that to a sister, right?"

The queen beamed as if her point had been proved and continued with her paperwork.

"Perhaps," Luna agreed. "Serenity, Neptune is very far away. We should start traveling right now."

"Aw, but I'd prefer to relax a little, fix my hair—I have some awful fly-aways right now and the buns aren't completely round—and maybe I should get a little snack." Serenity paused at Luna's harsh look. "But, Lu-_na_! I'm hungry! Being a queen is hard work! I deserve at _least_ a sugar cookie. Maybe even chocolate chip."

Luna shook her head. "While discussing the value of cookies to interplanetary currency is always an entertaining topic, this is not a joke, my queen. You must understand that you don't have playtime anymore. Even though you are only fifteen, you must act like a grown woman. There are many things you must consider—alliances with planets in other systems, wars, marriage—"

"Marriage!" exclaimed the queen. "Luna, I'm fifteen!"

"Exactly. You are expected to wed soon."

". . . None of the other rulers have wed," Serenity pointed out.

Luna sighed. "Marriage is one of the last things you consider on Mercury, it's not required for the birth of an heir on Venus, it's too sacred to marry except for love on Mars, Jovians rarely marry and usually adopt children whose parents have passed, Saturn is still fairly young, I'm not entirely sure what Uranus and Neptune are doing, and Pluto _can't_ marry."

"What about Endymion?" added Serenity smugly.

"On Earth, males usually wed late."

Serenity cocked her head and chewed on her pen. "Weird. All right, Luna, I'll leave soon. Give me an hour to gather anything necessary and you can fetch Artemis."

Luna agreed and the two excited the Royal Office.

* * *

><p>"Artemis, I received word from Mau," whispered Luna as they boarded the ship. Artemis inquired back in his own hushed tone about the state of being. "Mewla thinks Chaos will be wreaking havoc soon. We need to watch and see if Cosmos levels rise to even it out. If so, we are to become Star advisors again."<p>

The white-haired man looked indignant. "Just when we thought we got rid of that job . . . . Luna, do you think it will really happen?"

"I'm not sure," Luna replied. "We just have to wait like anyone else would."

"Have you considered telling Serenity?"

She hesitated. "Selene wanted to—when she was older. Serenity doesn't need to find out yet. Besides, whatever is happening on Mau may reach us after Serenity has grandchildren! Perhaps we could put it off just a bit."

"We need to be prepared. I say we tell her," said Artemis firmly.

"Later," pleaded Luna. "Let the Silver Alliance come together and then we'll lead Serenity to—"

"Lead me to what—or whom, as cases may be," Serenity spoke suddenly. She took a seat next to Luna and laid her head down on her shoulder. She intended to sleep through the majority of the ride.

Luna shifted to make it easier for her queen. "Some minor issues on the Moon. It is nothing you need to think about now."

"Like getting married?" queried Serenity. "I want to spread Earth's later life marriage thing to the Moon. I'll get married when I'm twenty-five. It will be much easier to find someone then, you know. I won't have to look through countless people because so many will have already wed. It's a very good idea, if you ask me."

"Just marry who you want," reminded Artemis.

Serenity nodded. "Oh, I know. I want more than anything to be in love when I marry. In fact, I'd support any marriage for love, regardless of status."

Serenity waited for a reaction from the two. There was nothing. In fact, nobody said anything for quite some time; there was no sound but the engine and breathing until Mars came into view. Serenity had stared out the window mesmerized by the stars and Luna and Artemis has pondered the fate of their home planet.

"Sleep, dear. It's a long way to Neptune and I'm sure you want to greet her properly," Luna replied eventually. It took Serenity a minute to remember that she had been the last to speak. She nodded and let herself drift away into her fairy tale land with a faceless prince—or king, she thought sleepily, now that she was a queen—and pure bliss.

* * *

><p>The whirr of a Lunarian engine was a pleasant sound, but it did not fit in with the soft jingles in the nature of Neptune. The Neptunian queen pulled her wavy locks back and let them fall once more as to get a better view of her arriving guests. She curtsied as custom and stepped back to wait for the exit. The Lunarian queen left no disappointments as she chattered about the beauty of singing birds and the tranquility of the wind as it pushed the limbs of the trees around. Neptune noticed that she carried an extra pair of shoes, a wise choice as she was currently walking through the marshes.<p>

"Good day, Serenity," interjected the blonde queen.

Serenity started. "Uranus! I didn't know that you would be here. Don't take that with a negative connotation, of course, I was merely surprised, but it is nice to see you all the same. It seems like I'll be going _everywhere_ now that I'm queen," joked Serenity.

Neptune gave a soft smile. "Of course. What would you like to do now, Serenity? I am afraid I cannot remember what you liked to do when visiting."

The moon queen explained that she could not either and would be open to anything either of them suggested. Neptune and Uranus shared a look in contemplation over which of them could determine an activity that Serenity would perceive as the lesser of two evils.

"I like listening to nature's song and graphing it down so we can recreate it," confessed Neptune. "We have a special system, and I would be happy to teach you although I must admit that for the length of time I do it, you might find the sound cloying."

Uranus said, "I prefer racing the horses that Endymion sent me for my coronation."

Serenity made an exaggerated sound to let them know of her meditation. "Can I try both?" Serenity asked brightly. "I love learning new things and I want to make the most of my visit here!"

Neptune nodded and led the queens to the area she typically worked in, explaining the way the notes were jotted down and how to use a small instrument to test the sounds once more in case the replication didn't sound quite right. "If something like that happens, Serenity, for any reason, just throw it out. Someone else is bound to hear that tune someday, so it is hardly a loss. It is much better to have no music than bad music," advised Neptune. Serenity gave a brief determined nod with her eyes showing her complete enrapture. She caught on fairly quickly and after a few hours left to work with Uranus.

"Wait!" whined Serenity as she attempted to speed her horse. "I just started! It's not fair! You've trained!"

As she pulled up to the Triton Castle, Neptune was giggling in a ladylike manner and Uranus had just hopped off of her horse. Serenity pouted and declared her dislike for the activity.

"Come now, Serenity, you are a queen," Neptune chided, "so act like it. Don't pout because Uranus is a better equestrian than you. Let's go to dinner."

Serenity flushed. While she assumed that the green-haired queen had been joking, she still felt embarrassed about acting in such a childish manner in front of the elegant lady. She lifted the hem of her skirt and dragged her feet through the thick mud to get inside. She tripped and Uranus helped her up.

"Still as ungraceful as ever, Kitty Cat?" teased Uranus. Serenity beamed. She had always liked Uranus, who could act childish while retaining dignity. "Queen Serenity, Neptune and I would like to have a chat with you."

"Uh-oh," muttered the silver-haired child. "Had it been anyone else, I would be worried if they were inquiring whether it was I who knocked down that shelve of books or broke the arrow or chipped the marble statue of a former ruler or put out part of the Sacred Fire or—"

"If I didn't know better, Serenity, I would say you were listing previous offenses," Neptune said with slight amusement as they sat at the dining table. The moon queen briefly wondered why they were in here. Dinner was far off.

"Of course not!" protested Serenity. "I was but listing a few incidents that I may or may not have been involved in."

Uranus removed her head from the hand it had been resting on a leaned back. "Might I inquire how the Sacred Fire was put out? I thought that was supposed to be invincible to that."

Serenity twisted part of her hair back.

"There were a few children hiding from a Mercurian girl and when the Mercurian found one of them in a temple room, she threw a fit that put the fire in that room out. Both agreed to never tell anyone. I'm assuming only one has broken that agreement."

Neptune forced seriousness into her expression. "Serenity, I am afraid I need to speak of Alliance business. As you know, my kingdom has had great debts and we are unable to pay them off without adding a deficit to our current funds."

"I know, Neptune, and I have decided to forgive all debts to the Moon Kingdom. We are in no need of currency," said Serenity. "We have cookies!"

Uranus ignored her off-base comment. "What has made you decide this so suddenly?"

"My advisors," she stated simply. "Is that all, then?"

The neighboring queens nodded and Serenity thought to turn away to her room where she might cleanse herself after a long day out and rest from the activity when Mercury's plea resonated in her memory. She resumed her seated position to the surprise of Neptune and Uranus.

"If I might say so, I believe you can trust Mercury. I had dinner with her the other day and she still seems to be the same honest person she has always been; in fact, she explained a little bit about senshi to me. I believe I may look into borrowing a book from her. She seems to know a lot about Cosmos and Chaos and I don't seem to remember much at all," said Serenity. As she looked at each of the cold stares, she decided the subject matter was not appropriate and turned to a different monarch. "Might I ask what you think of Saturn, then?"

"I believe that she needs to be sealed away. The Silence Glaive is a weapon that calls to its possessor, and with her interests, I think Saturn should as soon use it for her own amusement as to save our Alliance," Neptune said.

"Her interests?" Serenity exclaimed. "I had her for tea the other day and it seemed to me that her interests are more of the romantic kind than the gothic."

Uranus wanted to saw something, but Neptune stopped her.

"I see," Uranus replied once she was allowed to speak, "but we still believe that she should be sealed away. That power is too great for anyone. It would be better for all."

Serenity frowned. "I disagree. I'm afraid that I feel too tired to stay up much longer. I will retire to my chamber. Good night. Do not wake me for dinner."

* * *

><p>It was a surprise to her advisors to find Queen Serenity staring out the window in the ship, bags already put away when they arrived. She did not address them happily as usual but with a curt nod.<p>

"Did someone upset you, my queen?" probed Artemis. Serenity said nothing.

**I know this chapter is short too, but it will get better. In fact, I think you will be much happier with me once I post the next chapter. I think it's much more entertaining.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I think this will be a more enjoyable chapter for you all. It wasn't for me. I'm sorry it took so long, but this was just about torture to write. Or at least the festival scene was. Thank goodness it's up now.**

It was not uncommon for Serenity to be up later than all the other courtiers. However, as she had not risen by noon (Earth Time, universal setting used between kingdoms), Luna felt the need to check on her. She found the queen lying in her room, curled up among many pillows strategically placed so that her bed felt like a cloud and covered in silky white blankets. Luna nearly sighed. Only Serenity would sleep through this much of the day. Of course, she had already missed most of it, and she did look better rested than she had in days, lines under her eyes disappearing and color spreading across her face.

"My queen, you should have a day of rest, but don't forget to read the letters you've received," whispered Luna as she left. The closing door made Serenity awaken ever so slightly. She took in the words and nodded sleepily, reaching for the first letter on the pile. It was from Jupiter. It spoke of a wonderful festival they had just had. Mercury spoke of a period of learning they had all entered there. Saturn mentioned that she had just attended a lovely ball.

"Everyone is having fun, but me!" Serenity pouted while she lifted the last letter. Without checking who sent it, she began to read, "'Dear Queen Serenity the First,

"'My guards and I appreciated your visit. You are welcome any time. As I write this letter, we are preparing for the Harvest Festival. This time of year on Earth is when we pick most of our crops. My father started this tradition and everyone seems to love it. It is almost like a ball, but it is spread through the entire kingdom—even peasants join in.

"'I must apologize as my letter is terribly short, but I am needed in my court.

"'Good day,

"'King Endymion,'" she finished quietly. "Terribly short is right. He wasted so much paper for a letter he hardly wrote on. He could've asked how _I_ was doing, or what was going on in _my_ kingdom, or if _I_ . . . want to go to the festival. Yes, that's exactly what I'll do! Endymion didn't bother to send a proper letter, so this is just a little justice, and he did say I was welcome any time, even if he didn't really mean it. I just need to find a disguise. I'll ask Luna! No, she wouldn't let me. I'll just have to disguise myself."

Serenity stepped toward the mirror and stared into it. She darkened her eyes ever so slightly. Looking at her hair, she knew she needed to change that too.

"What's a common Terran hair color?" Serenity mused to herself. She remembered that two of his guards were blond . . . . Yes, Serenity was going to make herself blonde! Her hair darkened to the yellow color, and Serenity had to say that she didn't look much like herself. Her buns were a little distinctive though. Serenity pulled them down. Her hair didn't quite hit the floor, but it was still abnormally long, so she braided it tightly until it was only to the back of her knees.

Serenity looked at the mirror. "I should probably put on a Terran dress too. A regular Lunarian might not be as strange as the moon queen, but . . ."

Serenity was really pleased with her work. She looked like any other Terran. Now, all she had to do was find a loyal servant to take her down to Earth and she could attend the festival without any problems. She moved to walk out the door when she caught a glimpse of something gold on her forehead. It was probably a good idea to remove that, she told herself. The crescent moon symbol was a sign of royalty's power, and Serenity knew that had she left then, her attempts would've been disastrous. "At least I remembered," she muttered to herself and began to sneak away. She just hoped the Harvest Festival was worth it.

* * *

><p>Earth was a very vibrant planet, Serenity realized. She had never been outside of the palace grounds, but even those were colorful. However, out here, there were flowers in every color imaginable and the buildings were colorful too. Some were painted with murals, others had decorations scattered around. The people were all incredibly friendly too; they spoke to everyone equally and it amazed her that so many people had already waved at her in the short time she had been there. Serenity, surprised by all this attention, grew very shy, which was odd as she was not a naturally diffident person. It was not customary to speak like this to people she didn't know.<p>

"Good day, miss!" called a young girl as Serenity walked by. "Would you like to buy a flower?"

Serenity instantly felt horrible. The child was very cute and obviously in need of money, but Serenity—the ditz she was—forgot to bring any of Earth's currency.

"I apologize," she spoke immediately, "but I did not bring much with me today. I had only intended to look around."

The little girl stared, her brown bangs flopping over her eyes. "That's silly. There's nothing much to do at a Harvest Festival other than buy!"

Serenity smiled. "Yes, it is rather silly," she laughed at herself. Many of the things she had seen were trumpery, however nothing could upset her mood though. She was having more fun than she had had in a very long time. Suddenly, her shyness flew away. Serenity remembered something she had not thought of since she was a child and the late king of Earth ruled: She loved this planet. It didn't matter who ruled it, although Serenity believed that there could've been better, she was in love with the atmosphere, the people, the way the sun felt, the way the grass felt as it brushed her toes. She nearly sighed in contentment. This was a great idea.

"Good day, miss. Would you like to play?" a stand owner said.

Serenity said back, "Er, I don't . . . ."

"That's no reason for you not to have fun! I'll pay for one round," he replied. Serenity beamed happily and asked how to play. "Is that a joke, young lady? You toss the rings and they need to hook onto a milk bottle."

Serenity smiled and pretended she had been joking. This was apparently a commonly known game, and she couldn't give away her identity. She tossed her first ring, which flew way over and hit the back of the stand. She giggled and threw the next, which fell nicely onto a bottle in the middle. The third nearly fell off of the bottle it landed on, but she made it all the same.

"Very good," the owner said. "I'll let you continue this round as long as you pay this time."

Serenity shook her head. "I'm afraid I need to leave, but I will be sure to patron here next year."

She turned away and continued looking around. The longer she was here, the more disappointed she was. It didn't seem as if she could do anything. There were a lot of food stands, but Serenity was leery to try any of the samples. Even though she generally loved Terran foods, these didn't seem quite usual. She passed the stand of the little girl a couple more times before she once again spoke up.

"Why are you walking around here? You're dressed like a lady. Shouldn't you be celebrating at the palace?" the child asked in curiosity.

"I wanted to look around," Serenity replied, "but I think I will make my way to the palace now."

Perhaps the palace would have more for her to do, Serenity thought. Now if only she could find her way from this village _to_ the palace.

* * *

><p>"I wasn't aware the Endymion appointed so many nobles," muttered Serenity as she dodged through the crowd. Her previous shyness returned and she stopped walking, arms wrapped around her tightly. No one was talking to her; she felt left out. Tears welled up in her eyes.<p>

"What's wrong, miss?"

Serenity glanced back to see one of Endymion's guards. It was one of the blonds, the longer-haired one, but she didn't know the name.

"It's . . . It's my first Harvest Festival without my mother. I'm just a little sad," she said.

The guard smiled. "Why don't you come sit with us? You might have a better time if you socialize. What is your name, miss? Wait, don't. You're not supposed to be introduced to anyone during the Harvest Festival—odd tradition if I've ever heard one. We shall call you Lady . . . Usagi. That means rabbit where my mother is from."

"Alright," Serenity agreed softly. The guard led her to the table where Endymion's other guards sat.

"Kunzite," the first guard said, "this is Lady Usagi. She'll be sitting with us today. Be respectful. She's in mourning."

"How do you do?" the silver-haired one said respectfully. Serenity curtsied as she remembered to be Terran custom. It seemed to be enough for the guards. The other blond general studied her before smiling and inviting her to sit down. Serenity did so quietly.

The general smiled. "Are you nervous, Lady Usagi? You seem very young. Your parents must have passed early." The others scolded him and gave Serenity his name—Jadeite.

"My mother recently passed. She would have wanted me to attend the festival though." Serenity knew it was a lie. Selene would have been very disappointed. What kind of queen goes to another kingdom's festival without an invitation and especially without informing the king? It made her feel bad in some ways; surprisingly, Endymion's guards were civil. She had not expected this. She had, after all, heard that Earth had a vicious military.

The rest of the festival was rather boring. There were songs (that Serenity didn't know the words to), games (that Serenity didn't know how and physically couldn't play), and food (that Serenity tried, but was surprised to find she didn't like). The guards accompanied her all afternoon, much to her relief, as she didn't feel like walking around alone. Being with people was much more pleasant.

"Lady Usagi," General Nephrite spoke suddenly, "would you like to dine with us tonight?"

Serenity stiffened. "I'm afraid my aunt will get worried if I don't return home soon."

"Your aunt?" inquired Jadeite.

"Yes," Serenity said slowly, trying to understand where they were going. After a moment, she understood. "I am only fifteen. I do not know how to run the house on my own. My aunt is helping me for the time being."

Kunzite examined her. "That's too bad. Men, we must find Endymion now."

"It's too bad you're not attending dinner," said Jadeite. "You're such a demulcent woman, I'm sure Endymion would like you. In fact, we have been trying to convince him to look for a wife . . . ."

Thankfully, Kunzite had ordered his men away quickly, after apologizing to Serenity of course. Serenity shook her red flushed head and turned away, heading back to the area where her servants had parked the ship. She bumped into a red-headed lady whom gave her a calculating look that made Serenity wonder if she'd over heard the last bit of conversation.

"I sincerely hope that that was tactless in Earth's manners, for if people go around saying things like that every day," muttered the queen, "Endymion surely runs one . . . planet. I can't even think of a word to describe it." She was just about to get off of the palace grounds when she felt herself run into another person. Serenity then cursed Earth's heavier gravity. It tended to make her the least graceful person around. She stuttered an apology and looked up.

"King Endymion."

The black-haired kind stared at her for a minute, before gaining an amused expression. "You know, if you had wanted to attend, you only needed ask."

Serenity felt her face grow red again, although she was unsure if he actually had recognized her, and excused herself, rushing as quickly towards the ship as she could.

"My queen, would you like to visit another planet?" asked the servant, entertained by the young queen as always. She shook her head and said home would be fine "for now".

* * *

><p>King Endymion entered his dining room. Those in the room bowed respectfully before returning to what they were doing. Endymion's guards rushed up to speak. Endymion spoke first.<p>

"Did any of you happen to meet a young girl today? I believe she had blonde hair and blue eyes. Rather petite too . . . ."

The guards exchanged a look.

Nephrite said, "I believe we did. Lady Usagi. If it helps, she was wearing her hair in a braid. She also mentioned that she had to get home to her aunt."

Endymion laughed quietly at the thought of Serenity's advisor. He could see her being an aunt. "That was the Queen Serenity."

Kunzite gave him a startled look. "What would Her Majesty be doing here?"

"I'm not sure," Endymion admitted, "but she is Serenity after all. She never was one to stick to what is considered proper. Do you remember her? The little one with the strange hairstyle?"

"Yes!" cried Zoisite enthusiastically. "She was the one you—"

"So I was right," Jadeite said smugly.

"How did you recognize her?" Kunzite asked. "She did a good job of disguising herself. Her silver hair was gone and all traces of being Lunarian royalty had vanished.

"Lunarians have a particularly odd accent," explained Endymion. "Sharp consonants, particularly Ts, and they tend to leave off the G sound of 'ing'. Also, Serenity is very short. If you'll excuse me, I believe I must relate this account to Saturn. She tends to find humor in situations like this."

After the king had left, Jadeite looked back at the other guards. "That doesn't really explain how he knew it was Queen _Serenity_."

* * *

><p>Luna once again walked in to check on her queen.<p>

"Serenity, you can't sleep in every day!"

**I'm worried that some characters might be OOC (except Saturn. I have plans for her). Feel free to send me any complaints. I want to become a better writer and criticism always helps. One of my first critics was increasingly supportive, but always told me what I was doing wrong. I'm sure the change from her help is evident from my first few stories to this. I still have a long way to go though, if I want to be a published author.**

**Also, please recommend any good stories you've read on here. I'm in the mood to read, but having trouble finding something. I will read your stuff if you ask too! I'll read nearly anything!**

**You know, it may seem strange, but before I read Sailor Moon, I had always thought it was stupid. (This actually stems from a childhood grudge, silly as it is. I'd watched part of the first season in English, but then I went to school and didn't have time. Next time I turned it on, there were so many new people and Serena was dating Darien, which had me really confused.) Finally, someone convinced me to try it and I was hooked. This is one of the best series I've ever laid my eyes on. What about you?**


	6. Chapter 6

**I've been trying to incorporate more of Serenity's struggles in these next few chapters, so I've been listening to a lot of songs that mention fifteen frequently, like Taylor Swift's Fifteen and 100 Years by Five for Fighting. Both fit this perfectly, so I've been really inspired!**

**I know that this chapter is really short, but it's all I can force out at this moment. Slight writer's block. I should be back soon enough though.**

Luna had been an advisor to the royal family for as long as she could remember. Introduced to Queen Selene as a child, she was given the name of Luna de Mau after her homeworld and guided the Moon Kingdom along with Artemis. Still, she had never seen anyone absorb themselves in their work as much as Serenity was doing at this moment.

"Is she alright?" asked Artemis worriedly. Luna didn't answer, for fear if she did, she would be wrong. Finally, Serenity looked up exhaustedly.

"Get a ship to Mars ready."

"Mars?" gasped her female advisor. It was common knowledge that Serenity disliked Mars and Mars disliked her even more. What business could she have on there?

Serenity nodded irritably. "_Yes_. Now get it ready."

Her advisors agreed slowly and walked away.

* * *

><p>Serenity lowered her head to the Sacred Fire. "Please," she whispered, "help me understand what Endymion meant." As she said these words, she felt childish and selfish. Everything she'd been accused of being. It didn't help that saying Endymion's name distracted her greatly. A large weight settled atop her lungs, making it hard to breathe. She hated the feeling, and she hated that Endymion gave it to her, but she certainly didn't hate Endymion. "I'm a selfish queen. I shouldn't even be here asking you for advice. A-after all, I did make Mercury angry enough to set you out. Only I could get Mercury that angry. She's so calm . . . .<p>

"And Venus always knows what to say. No one hates her. Mars puts her complete faith in you, and she's really loyal; she'd never take the easy way out if it meant betraying her planet. Jupiter's so strong and she's so forgiving, and Saturn has to put up with everything but nobody ever tries to help her and she's still here smiling, and Uranus is protective and no one would dare go against her. And . . . and Neptune is really elegant and she never says the wrong thing and makes a fool of herself and Pluto knows her duty and she follows it, and," she stopped, forcing Endymion's name from her lips like she had been doing the whole speech. Her eyes burned and tears forced themselves out and she sobbed again and again and again. She felt a peaceful hand on her back.

"Serenity."

She looked up. Mars stared at her. Serenity wanted to laugh, for at the moment Mars was embodiment of her own name, something Serenity had never been able to accomplish. A small chuckle, easily mistaken for a hiccup of sorrow, passed through her lips and Mars' eyes narrowed back into the normal indignant glare.

"You're causing a lot of confusion in the temple. I could feel it on the other side."

"Suh . . . suh . . . _sorry_," the moon queen squeaked and started crying again. It was not a pleasant bonding moment for either woman, but Mars stayed there and comforted her softly and Serenity cried. Finally, she sat back and wiped the tears from her eyes, sending a smile to her face that detracted from the wetness around her lashes.

Mars released a sigh and her hold on Serenity. "What was that about, Serenity? I haven't sensed something like that in a long time."

"I'm— I'm not a good queen," admitted the fifteen-year-old. Mars nodded slowly.

"No, you're not."

Serenity's shoulders fell because even if she'd accepted it, she still wanted someone to refute the idea.

"Serenity, you're fifteen-years-old, you have no training, and you don't even have a former queen to teach you what needs to be run in your kingdom. You're doing your best though," explained Mars, pushing her dark hair behind her ears. Serenity looked around the room. She was embarrassed for crying. The smoky fire was the only light in the warm brown room. It was very comforting in a way. Mars huffed. "Don't look like that. It's normal for a girl your age to cry like that."

"Really?" exclaimed the silver-haired girl.

Mars nodded. "Mercury did. So did Venus, but to a lesser extent. Mercury _is_ from a water-based planet after all. I think you may give her a run for her money though."

A real smile slipped onto Serenity's face and she giggled. Mars gave a dry grin back and went back onto the topic. "So _calm down_. This isn't something you can just sit in front of the fire and expect it to fix it for you. You need to talk to—a woman." It couldn't be hidden that Mars was about to say something that would send Serenity into more hysterics. "What about your advisor?"

The idea of telling Luna all this put a scowl on her face. Mars leaned over and touched her forearm gently. Serenity had never realized this, but fiery, brash Mars was also an emotional woman. Someone she could relate to.

"Talk to me. I won't be mean. I promise."

Promises were serious on Mars. "I want to be a good queen. And the rest of you are all so good at running your own planets," she choked.

"We won't let your people suffer. We'll help," said Mars roughly.

Serenity nodded.

"And you're not selfish. Everyone feels like it sometimes, but think about it. How often do you try to make things easier for other people? Do you step out of the way to let them through? Do you move things if it's in their way?" asked Mars. "You worry too much."

Serenity nodded again. Her stomach still churned.

Twisting her hair over to her other shoulder, Mars looked Serenity in the eye. "That's not all this is about."

A bright blush burned Serenity's cheeks. "Promise you won't tell?"

"I can't promise I won't laugh."

"Alright." She took a deep breath. "Endymion sent me a letter that made me really angry, so I thought as payback I'd sneak onto his planet because his stupid Harvest Festival was going on and I had a good disguise on and everything, but somehow I think he still managed to recognize me."

"What makes you think that?" questioned Mars, fully intrigued.

"He said I could've come if I'd asked. He could've been talking about someone else, but I still think . . . ." mumbled Serenity. Mars snickered.

She said, "That was a dumb thing to do, Serenity. What would give you that idea?"

Serenity looked down. She noted that the blush on her cheeks was kind of ironic—Mars the red planet, and she the moon queen, all silver excepting the embarrassment the Martian queen was forcing her into. Mars was amused in her own way, violet eyes alight like they were during Venus's latest exploit.

"What did your disguise look like?"

"Basically I made my hair blonde," said Serenity.

Mars shook her head. "Figures. You and Venus, two blonde ditzes. Speaking of which, do you mind telling me . . . ?"

"I honestly don't know," Serenity replied. "I think I may be more confused than the rest of you."

"Makes sense," agreed Mars. "Venus is confusing."

"I'd better go." Serenity rose and straightened her dress. Mars stood up quicker and walked to the door.

"Don't make a habit of this. You sent the whole temple into a frenzy with your inner 'turmoil'."

Serenity made her way to her spacecraft, wryly remembering the hurry she had been in last time and took a look at the planet.

"Maybe I wrong about Mars." That didn't mean she'd forgiven her, but . . . . Tears filled her eyes and she smiled. There was nothing wrong with having another friend. Even if you couldn't get along very well.

* * *

><p>It seemed if all she ever did was papers, Serenity sighed, tossing another to the side. The door to her office swung open and she looked up, expecting Luna as per usual, instead finding:<p>

"Pluto."

"Serenity, I need to speak to you." Pluto slipped into the chair on the other side of the wooden, gold-trimmed desk that Serenity always liked for the fact that it stood out in her palace of pastels. Serenity looked at her with the intent for her ally to continue, softly placing her hands on the desk and folding them around each other.

"I'm not normally allowed to do this," said Pluto. "Serenity, I think you should ask to hold off the Alliance for at least a year."

Shock forced Serenity's features apart. "You are serious?"

Pluto nodded. "The Alliance can wait. You need time to get settled. I can make sure everyone else agrees. It will all end up better if you wait."

"Truly?"

"Well," Pluto hesitated, "you'd have more time."

Time for what? Pulling her hands back into her lap, Serenity leaned back, lowering the lids of her blue eyes. She fussed with the unattached sleeves of her dress. They had been bothering her lately. She was considering removing them. She looked back at the green-haired queen. "Would that not just be putting off the inevitable?"

"Perhaps. But, Serenity, listen—"

"I cannot do that, Pluto. Everyone has been working on this long before I became queen. Is it fair to tell them that their efforts were for not?" Serenity shook her head solemnly. It almost felt good to do that, with all the agreeing that had been happening lately. "I don't want to be a bother. Everyone already dislikes me enough."

Pluto leaned forward, her expression defiant. She lowered her eyes and brushed any inhibitions. Serenity could've sworn she'd said something like, "Mamoru is going to kill me for telling you something like this."

"Please tell me your thoughts, Pluto."

"You are a very likeable person, Serenity. You have a great destiny. Just be yourself. I do not know a single person with a pure heart in the whole universe who did not eventually come to like you in some way. Are you still against my suggestion?"

"Yes," replied Serenity surely. Pluto stood slowly and studied Serenity.

"You may be likeable, but you are very stubborn. I should've remembered that. Good day." Pluto left with that. Serenity gazed at the door for a moment before following suit. Perhaps cookies could help. They always did, after all.

* * *

><p>"Afternoon, Luna," said Pluto as she passed. The black-haired Mauan turned to her.<p>

"Is something wrong, Pluto? Did Serenity not listen?"

Pluto hesitated, wringing her hair with her hands tightly. "I'm not . . . that is to say, I . . . . Please call me Setsuna. I have not been called Pluto in a long time, except for—"

"You are from the future then? I suppose it would make sense. You look . . . different."

Setsuna replied, "In a way. As the senshi of Time—"

Luna seemed startled. "You _are_ Sailor Pluto then?"

"Yes. I had intended to help and make Serenity wait, but she's adamant about keeping everything up. Time paradox, I suppose. There are very many between the time I reside in and the Crystal Millennium. A few to this one too," said Setsuna cryptically. "I must admit, I am not used to you not knowing all this. U—Serenity in my time, you watch her very carefully, after all her duty . . . . I should probably stop talking."

"You're worried about your friend. I can tell," Luna replied. "Will you at least tell me if the disaster that has befallen Mau will reach this Solar System soon?"

"That is classified."

**I know it doesn't seem likely that Setsuna would accidentally reveal anything, but remember this—in our "present" time, Luna supposedly knows everything, so Setsuna has adjusted to that fact. It is difficult for her to remember not to, plus she is always very stressed at seeing her first life before it is destroyed. I hope you all did realize that was actually Setsuna, as in she traveled from the present to the Silver Millennium and not just an ambiguous Pluto who prefers to be called Setsuna. Did I ever write Setsune instead of Setsuna? When I was writing I did, but I think I caught it all.**

**So everything's getting good now! I really liked this chapter because I really like Rei. I think she and Usagi have a friendship that is difficult for anyone to understand. As you can probably tell, I love all the senshi. Each and every one is so interesting to write about.**

**I hope this was interesting enough for you and I didn't talk too much. See you next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm basing Serenity's klutz incidents on mine. I'm probably even more of klutz. Really. I was thinking about it this morning and pretended to trip so I could remember what it felt like. Then I reached for the door to my room to stabilize me, but the door wasn't there! Then I ran into the wall. I'm okay! My ankle is what hurts. Apparently it's possible to twist it by standing up.**

**How many of you will stare at stairs so you don't trip?**

Serenity, up on time for once, gracefully stepped down the staircase and nodded at her servants in greeting. Her long white dress trailed behind her. She stared at each step solemnly until she reached floor. Serenity then raised her gaze. A giant grin spread across her face as she looked upon her advisors and said, "See? I can walk without tripping!"

"Very nice," muttered Luna. "Serenity, how did your meeting with Pluto go?"

"Hm?" Serenity said, playing with the strands of hair loose from her traditional hairstyle. "Oh, fine. She said it would be alright in the end."

"You didn't listen to her?" said Luna carefully.

Serenity sighed. "What meeting are we going to?" When Luna didn't answer, she continued, "The Alliance. Pluto asked me to delay it. I have enough problems as it is. Mars just barely thinks enough of me to stay in the same room. Uranus and Neptune think I'm silly. And don't get me started on Venus, Luna. You know how it is."

"But—"

"I can't jeopardize what I have. You may not realize it, but I remember what it was like when Grandmother ruled. I'm not going to ruin everything my mother put into this kingdom—and I'm absolutely _not_ going to stop the Alliance. This is what my mother started, and I am going to finish it," said Serenity firmly.

Luna turned away. The pale blue tile of the parlor gleamed. Serenity picked up her dress and walked out the large doors of the palace as gracefully as a klutz could: she narrowly avoided running into the doorframe, but she fumbled with the marble stairs leading to the ground. It was a wonder her ankles weren't swollen.

* * *

><p>Venus smiled at the young queen. "Afternoon, Serenity!"<p>

"Ven—" Serenity hiccupped, looking around Magellan Castle. "Venus."

The blonde gained a curious look. She decided to ignore whatever had happened to the fifteen-year-old and resumed her chatter with Endymion, unaware that his eyes kept drifting to the girl.

"Sat—" Another hiccup. "—turn. Jupiter."

Jupiter openly laughed. "What's wrong with you, Serenity?"

"Hiccups. Involuntary re—action of the diaphragm. It's nearly impossible to get rid of. They just disappear. And you don't know where they come from," said Serenity. She smiled. "Hey, I think they're— Never mind."

Saturn and Jupiter exchanged looks. Saturn straightened herself calmly as the meeting started to pick up. Jupiter leaned back, slouching. Serenity knew Jupiter got away with that only because posture wasn't a big deal on her planet and the others were too scared to mention it to her. Negotiations continued with side comments from Jupiter ("At least you're dressed correctly this time," "_Right_, that's why you flirting with Endymion's guard rather than speaking with them as a proper leader," and "Next time, don't wear heels in the forest," being among them) and short stories from Saturn ("And so, Serenity, never ask Venus for advice on attracting people. She seems to be fond of irony.")

"Mercury," said Uranus, "We have bee—"

Serenity hiccupped. She blushed and shut her mouth tightly, trying to make them silent.

"We have been debating, and we think—"

Venus hiccupped. Everyone looked at her.

"Serenity must have given them to me! See, she's not doing it anymore!" defended the orange clad queen. Neptune hiccupped. Saturn began to giggle.

"What is this, Serenity?" Uranus exclaimed.

"Hiccups. They go away after a while . . . I think."

Someone else, no one could attain as to who, hiccupped.

Endymion gaped at her. "You think?"

"Yes," said Serenity. "The longest known case has been eighty years, but I doubt anyone hear will get them that long. Besides, I know a way to stop it."

A hiccup echoed.

"What is it?" demanded Mars.

"Well . . . who should I fix first?" Serenity debated, tapping her fingers on the light wood of Venus's table. The sovereigns gathered around the table waited for a moment, the only sound the hiccups of the majority of them had. Serenity continued to ponder her decision, seemingly oblivious of the noise.

"For goodness sa—kuh!" said Mercury. "Just choose someone!"

Endymion reached for her wrist as if he could pull her back into reality. "Se—ren—ity."

"Endymion!" Jupiter shouted. "Cure Endymion."

Serenity looked at him for a moment. "Alright. Now, you'll have to give me a moment to remember exactly how this goes . . . . Well, I don't have that."

Uranus hiccupped.

"Figure out something!"

The door burst open. Endymion's guards—he never seemed to go anywhere without them—entered. Kunzite straightened calmly, lowering his sword. Jadeite looked put-out that nothing interesting was going on. Zoisite and Nephrite looked appreciatively around them. The ruling queens had all been acclaimed to be beautiful . . . .

"There was a commotion," Kunzite said. "What is happening?"

Venus hiccupped. A gentile blush graced her face.

"I've got it!" cried Serenity. "Do you like cookies?"

The room stared at her. Endymion replied with an impatient "Sure" that would have intimidated her had he not hiccupped in the midst of the word.

"If you hiccup right now, I'll give you a cookie."

The room was silent.

"That . . . actually worked," Uranus said. "Serenity . . ."

Serenity beamed, twirling her silver hair. She pushed the pigtail behind her shoulder. "That's how I cured my mother. She'd try to do it to me too, but it doesn't work on me. In fact, if anything, it guh—_ives _me the hiccups. See? Er, hear?" Mercury lowered her head to avoid looks from her laughter. Zoisite noticed.

"Cookies?" Mercury asked, ready to withdraw from the attention. Serenity shrugged. She looked around the room. It was nice to see everyone working together. She hadn't seen everyone act like this since she had been a child. Friendship was one of the most important things on the Moon; it was no wonder that it should please her.

"As I had been saying," continued Uranus, "Neptune and I are prepared to trust you. I have no more requirements. Also, Neptune got a loan from this lord who wants to marry her, so she doesn't need your money anymore!"

"Uranus!" gasped Neptune. "My funds are sufficient now. I apologize for her ineloquent phrasing."

Mars smiled. Serenity raised her eyebrows at that, but lowered them again before too many people noticed.

"Perhaps we should be adjourned," suggested Pluto, who then left without anyone else answering. Everyone began to disperse. Serenity hiccupped.

"That was a rather entertaining meeting, Serenity?" said Jupiter pointedly. Serenity blushed and hiccupped again, sending Saturn into quiet giggles.

"What have you been doing since our last meeting?" asked Saturn.

Jupiter answered, but Serenity looked anywhere besides the two.

"And Serenity?" Jupiter said pointedly, turning her gaze full-on the younger girl. "I hope it doesn't bother you to share your memories. After all, you couldn't have done anything that you couldn't share with us. We _have_ been friends for so long, you know. Don't you agree, Saturn?" Said queen nodded.

"Of course, Jupiter!"

Serenity pursed her lips. "I loathe you. Keep quiet about this, alright? I snuck to Earth and attended Endymion's festival in disguise. I think he may have known it was me, but I am not sure, so say _nothing_ to him. Or I will break your arms. Or your jaws. That would work better, seeing as then you couldn't betray secrets.

Jupiter and Saturn both promised they wouldn't as they calmed down from their laughter.

"Of course, perhaps he should know. Serenity, it is . . . ." muttered Saturn.

"No! Don't!" she cried.

Jupiter shook her head. "I think there was another reason for your visit, Serenity . . . ." A tune used to tease childhood lovers was hummed under her breath.

At this point, Serenity found it necessary to abandon the teasing duo and walk over to the door. Mars saw this and made her way to Serenity. She caught her arm with a small grin that let Serenity know she had a story of her own. Serenity brushed the wrinkles off her skirt and waited for her somewhat-new friend to speak.

"I've always liked Uranus's 'ineloquent' phrasing," said Mars.

Serenity bit her lip to prevent a laugh. "Oh, really?"

"Yes. It always brings entertainment." Mars leaned forward and whispered, "Don't bring your hiccups to a meeting _ever_ again or I will burn you into nothing. Speaking of which, don't do anything stupid."

"It's involuntary!" Serenity exclaimed. She hurried away.

"You have a letter, my queen," a servant said. Serenity nodded. She accepted and opened it quickly.

* * *

><p>"'Dear Queen Serenity the First,'" she said. The greeting she had gotten so used to sent a grin across her face. "'I must confess something before I even begin with my intentions upon writing this letter: your diaphragm disease has spread across the solar system. How would you stop the hiccups of someone who doesn't care for cookies?<p>

"'My reasons for this, in all actuality, are something entirely different.'"

Serenity looked at the smudge on the page. She tried to figure out what the two words had been, but gave up. If Endymion didn't want you to see something, she supposed you didn't. "'As you should very well know, you have a lot to catch up on in the world of politics. While I am sure your advisors are adequate, surely speaking to someone who has been in the same position would be better. I invite you to dine with my guards and me the next Tuesday. We will begin at 7:00 PM. It would be appreciated if you would reply soon as my cooks prefer to know exactly how many they are cooking for.'"

Yet again, there was a smudge in place of closing, followed by a quickly scribbled "sincerely" and his name.

Dinner with Endymion. Yes, Serenity could suffer through that.

**So there you have it. Hiccups are from the Moon. Strangely enough, after writing that part, I developed the hiccups. Maybe they really are contagious!**

**Since this will never be revealed in the story, let me know if you would like me to message you the original version of Endymion's letter. I can't put it down here; it reveals too much. I'll probably send it out for those who want it about the 9****th**** or 10****th**** chapter. I know I'm reverting back to shorter chapters and I feel bad about that, but there are scenes I don't want to take place yet, and nothing in order can be changed. However, I do hope to have another chapter by the end of the week. **


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm sorry it took so long to get this out to you. I had so much trouble writing the dinner scene. As an apology, I'm also going to post a small story about the royalty as kids. It will be more humorous, and just to warn you, it won't be easy to take seriously at all—it would hardly seem like the same piece, I think, but kids act that way. I do like Zoisite's lines though. Sarcastic characters always entertain me, probably because I think so many sarcastic things myself.**

**I also realized that it doesn't seem like too many people scorn Serenity. More or less, a lot of this is Serenity's worry because she can't tell if anyone truly likes her. Etiquette does get in the way sometimes. Who is your favorite character in this so far?**

"Ariana, would you please help me with my necklace?" Queen Serenity asked. The handmaiden scrambled over and took the chains from the queen's hands. After it was clasped, the pearls slid down and rested along her collarbone. Serenity reached for the brush and ran it through her silver hair one more time, even though it had been brushed so many times that it shone brighter than the Moon did on Earth. She played with the strands by her ears which never seemed to grow any longer. At least they were curling today. It made her look prettier than usual, she thought. "Is my dress alright?"

"Yes, my queen!" Ariana chirped. Serenity was wearing a newly finished silver dress that fluttered around her legs like a butterfly. "I'm sure King Endymion will think you look very nice."

Serenity blushed at his name and nervously pulled up the top of her dress. She wasn't sure her chest could hold it up. "I . . . I didn't say anything about Endymion."

"But everyone knows that's who you're dining with, your Highness," said Ariana unsurely. Serenity confused her sometimes.

"Er, yes. Go fetch Luna and Artemis, please." Her heart was thumping in her chest. She swallowed and inhaled deeply. She wanted to fuss with her hair, dust her eyes with something to make them stick out, or just about anything so she didn't have to leave yet! She was too nervous to take a step out of her room.

"Queen Serenity, come. It is time to leave. Punctuality is very important to Endymion," reminded Luna.

Serenity rose and followed. "I don't want to go."

"You already said you would," Luna said. "Please, my queen, King Endymion is not as . . . as he was as a child. I know you still feel the prejudice, but he is trying to let it go, and so should you."

That's not it at all, Serenity wanted to say. Please just don't make me go. Yet her feet kept leading her to the ship, where she boarded and headed to Earth. Serenity learned that butterflies do not feel good in an empty stomach.

* * *

><p>Jadeite stared as the ship landed. A hand gripped his uniform, effectively pulling him back.<p>

"You're an idiot, aren't you?" said Zoisite. "Don't stand so close to landing ships! You'll get yourself crushed." He flipped through his book, finding a particular paragraph he'd been wanting to read, and added, "Not that it would bother me at all . . . ."

"Kunzite! Did you hear Zoisite?"

"Yes. I would like to thank him for voicing the group's thoughts as a whole."

The whirring of the engine calmed and the doors opened. The courtesans of Earth watched as Queen Serenity exited gracefully. The fifteen-year-old managed to give herself a calm, mature demeanor. She curtsied very lightly at the generals, who in turn bowed low in respect, before turning and giving a slightly deeper one to Endymion, as per custom. He lifted her hand—the same way he had the day she visited Earth, she remembered—and lightly kissed it. Serenity gave what she thought was a polite smile and followed Endymion and his generals into the large—admittedly larger than she'd expected—dining hall.

"How are you, Serenity?" asked Endymion.

"G— . . . Good." Serenity tried to smile again. "And you?"

Endymion did not receive a chance to answer as Jadeite jumped up. "Pleasure to see you again, Queen Serenity."

She smiled, oblivious to Jadeite's double meaning. "You too."

"Please sit," said Endymion, pulling the chair out for her. Startled, she glanced up at him. He nodded and she slowly settled into the chair. Endymion then walked to the nearest end of the table. He mentioned what they would be eating, but Serenity tuned it out. It was in a foreign language, and she presumed she would like it.

"Queen Serenity, what do you think of the meal?" Nephrite inquired halfway through the meal.

Serenity smiled softly and held her hand over her mouth as she finished swallowing. "It's not like anything I've tried before," she answered, trying to gloss over the fact that she didn't care for it. She stuck a small piece of fruit onto her fork—yum. Fruit was always enjoyable in Serenity's mind.

"How has ruling suited you?" Serenity turned in surprise at the question to the questioner. Zoisite seemed very intent on her answer. "Has it been a difficult transition?"

"I . . . don't believe I have been ruling long enough to give a suitable answer. My advisors help me a lot at this point, and I don't think the Moon Kingdom has had any real problems for me to deal with."

The door swung open rather abruptly. Serenity turned her head to see who was at the door. She recognized the redhead . . . from the Harvest Festival, if she wasn't mistaken. The woman walked quickly into a seat and gave an apology for her tardiness. She then seemed to notice Serenity. She only stared at the foreign queen.

"Lady Beryl, may I introduce you to Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom?" Endymion said pointedly. Beryl gave her another glance with a short greeting. Despite the discourtesy, he had no way of calling her out and shook his head to Serenity. Her heart thumped. Why was it so hard to speak to him?

"Have you spoken to Mercury about Cosmos and Chaos?" Serenity asked, reverting to a subject she found comfortable.

Endymion was very interested. "I have not heard that tale in quite a long time."

"She has reason to believe that it isn't a tale," continued the moon queen. "I apologize that I do not remember more, but it is very interesting. She mentioned things like Star seeds and Sailor senshi. I had no idea that Queen Pluto doubled as a senshi."

The most intellectually inclined general answered. "I believe we have some books on that in the library. After dinner, why don't we go there?"

Serenity grinned and tried to stomach more of her food. At this point, she had to wonder if this was really just because she didn't like the food.

The dinner portion of the evening ended quickly thereafter. Endymion's guards were delighted to lead Serenity to the library and Serenity was delighted to follow them while King Endymion had brief conversation "of great importance" with Lady Beryl.

"Most of your books are fiction," remarked Serenity.

Zoisite turned to her. "Yes. Is there a limited supply in your kingdom?"

"Fiction books are mainly for children. Most adults are not fond of reading," said Serenity, twirling hair (a nervous habit). "Nonfiction is only interesting in certain subjects, I think."

"Perhaps you need to read fiction books. If I _must_ read, I prefer that over nonfiction," Jadeite told her. Serenity nodded, even though she had no intention of doing such. Endymion and Beryl entered the room, an exasperated look on Endymion's face and a smirking one on Beryl's.

Kunzite addressed his king. "Jadeite and Zoisite were recommending books to Queen Serenity."

Endymion's eyes lit up at that. Serenity had been unaware that he liked books. In some ways, she liked that. It made Endymion seem . . . intellectual. She watched as he removed a few books and placed them into her hands. She watched as his standard cape waved around his arms. She hardly even realized she was watching until he started speaking again.

"You may return them the next time you visit," he said.

"Yes," she agreed unconsciously. Excitement fell across her as she realized that the Terran king had semi-re-invited her. Serenity looked outside. "The sun is setting?"

Endymion looked startled. "Oh, I apologize for keeping you so long, Queen Serenity. May I walk you to your ship?"

"Alright," she answered. Lady Beryl was very unamused at the way he took her arm and held her close to his side. Serenity casually leaned her towards him. She hadn't realized he was so much taller than her, although, she thought later, she should have. Serenity was only taller than Saturn, and Saturn was short for Saturnians, a short race in and of itself. Endymion's hands were even colder than her own. That made Serenity smile. It reminded her of a saying of her mother's. "Cold hands, warm heart." She hardly realized that they had reached her ship until he helped her up and kissed her hand in farewell.

"Thank you for coming," Endymion told Serenity.

"I was glad to come," she replied. "Earth always was my favorite planet to visit when I was a child."

His dark blue eyes lit up. "Oh. Er, good day."

"Good day," the Lunarian repeated and climbed into her ship. She watched Endymion and his guard disappear from her view. Slowly, she raised her hands to her mouth to hide her smile.

* * *

><p>Back in her chambers, Serenity could not have been happier. She spun around one more time, hoping none of the servants beneath her could hear. Even though the nightgown didn't have quite the same twirling effect as the dress she had worn to Endymion's palace, the brushing of her legs felt so familiar. She couldn't help smiling.<p>

She heard footsteps in the hallway and quickly fell to the bed. Once they had passed, she pulled her pillow towards her body.

"I wonder," she asked herself, "why Endymion was so happy to hear that I liked Earth."

Serenity entertained a couple of thoughts about that as she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Luna let out an exasperated sigh. She turned to her charge. "My queen, you must learn to pay attention during these meetings."<p>

Serenity hummed her consent and twirled around again. Queen Selene had said that when Serenity turned sixteen she would receive dance lessons. Perhaps she should be taking some lessons now, considering that she was a queen and she would have to go to balls and maybe even host . . . .

"Luna!" she cried with sudden excitement. "I want to host a ball!"

"My queen, you don't even know how to dance," Luna said, trying to get the young girl back on the subject.

"Exactly!"

Luna wasn't sure how that worked, but she supposed it had to in Serenity's mind. "Alright. We will get you a dance teacher. When would you like to host the ball?"

"Two weeks," answered Serenity quickly. "Invite all of our nobility and everyone in the Silver Alliance."

Luna nodded. This was hard to keep track of in her mind. She supposed she needed to go tell Artemis. Luna looked toward her queen for permission to leave. Serenity was practicing what she thought a waltz would look like. Luna smiled. Perhaps she wouldn't notice if her advisor crept away for just a minute or so.

**So Serenity is having a ball! This is going to be fun! I really have to apologize because this is **_**so**_** short, but in all honesty, I'm sick of writing this chapter. I'd rather get to the ball scene. Thank goodness this is my last week of school and I can devote my time to finishing this. So like always, tell me which characters you would like to see become more prominent and what you liked.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I originally considered going through every step of Serenity's dance lessons, but that would bore me and I think it would bore you. I did the best to make it sound like they were waltzing, but I only know jazz, so I can't say I did too well. It's vague for a reason.**

**Denizens—this is the first time I have ever used this word. In the reprinted manga, you never hear citizens. Always denizens. I felt that I needed to add that as tribute.**

Serenity felt herself wobble as she spun. Her hand gripped the teacher's tighter to keep from toppling over. Her instructor just barely caught her. They moved back into the regular steps. Serenity counted in her head, but the numbers distracted her. She stopped that. She now was off beat. Her foot slid over the dance teacher's. She muttered an apology—"Sorry, Mr. Lenn."—and tried to keep dancing.

"Let me lead," Mr. Lenn said. "Loosen your grip. Make your movements gentler."

Serenity tried. It felt a little easier. "Is this right?"

"Closer. Try to feel the music."

Serenity closed her eyes, swaying along with it. She moved her feet in smaller steps. She memorized each place her foot should go. The music sped up for another spin. She straightened her back and tried to balance. Slowly, she opened her eyes and found herself miraculously facing Mr. Lenn again. The smile on his face gave her encouragement. The moon queen had finally mastered the waltz and was ready to move on to another dance.

* * *

><p>"Luna! I can waltz now!" cried Serenity. She threw herself into her advisor's arms. Luna brushed her dress off calmly and asked about the lessons. "He's a really good teacher. I didn't realize dancing was so <em>hard<em>, but I'm glad I learned. This ball is going to be so enjoyable."

"Yes, my queen."

"Who has replied?" Serenity stood suddenly tall and solemn as a band of ladies passed by them.

Luna closed her eyes and pictured the pile of letters on the desk. "Nearly everyone. Lord and Lady Gernoa are unavailable, and the Honorable Miss Ophelly is ill. Queen Mercury, Queen Mars, and Queen Saturn said that they would arrive tomorrow. Queens Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto indicated that they would attend, but did not mention when they would arrive."

The black-haired woman turned away, ready to leave, but stopped at Serenity's inquiring eyes. Large and blue, completely innocent, but filled with love—"King Endymion has not replied," she added and continued on her way.

Serenity smiled at her back and went back to practicing. She imagined his hand on her back, the other clasping her fingers. She imagined the sound of her skirt brushing against his shoes. She imagined dancing with him. The image in her mind swiftly crumbled. She pushed and pulled her hair back into place and reorganized her mind—for now she was fairly dizzy. Queen Serenity walked to her office if not gracefully, then calmly. The denizens of Moon Kingdom would be proud if they could see her. The Committee received her in the meeting happily. There was still planning for the ball, after all.

* * *

><p>Greeting the guests was a tiring chore. Serenity looked at the newest arrival with a bright smile and knot in her stomach. As a queen, she could do nothing but nod else she be seen as lowering herself to the others. She watched as the ladies curtsied to her. The silver-haired girl wondered if she looked that graceful when she did a curtsy.<p>

"Serenity," Mars said quickly with a brief curtsy. Serenity followed suit.

"I'm glad you are here," she said.

Mars' violet eyes looked at her cautiously. When she had determined there was no threat, she turned away and entered the ballroom.

"Well, it seems that _she's_ in a grumpy mood. It's a pleasure to see you again, Serenity!" Venus grinned. Her curtsy was slower and more fluid, but she lowered herself even less than Mars had.

"You as well." She turned and greeted more guests.

"Serenity."

"Endymion," she replied automatically. She watched him bow, nearly all the way to his waist. Serenity grabbed the sides of her skirt and lifted her right leg. Stabilizing herself, she slowly sunk down, bowing her head but not bending her back. The next conscious moment she had, she was standing up straight again.

Endymion looked at her, blue eyes right next to blue, as if he wanted to say something. Instead, he entered the ballroom with no more words. Each of his guards greeted Serenity in their own way.

After everyone had arrived, Serenity made her way to the front of the room. Charismatic, she told herself, and happy. People like happy people.

"Welcome," she called. The room all turned to her. Her eyes widened. She had never spoken in front of so many people. She smiled to make herself feel more at ease. Serenity listened to the rehearsed words, the calm measure of her voice. Finally, it was over and she walked over to the side. An earl a few years older than her asked her to dance. She accepted.

Serenity spent the next few dances with people of her kingdom. Once her feet began to ache, she poured herself a glass of punch to regain her energy.

"Queen Serenity, may I have this dance?" Jadeite asked happily.

She chirped, "Of course."

This dance happened to be one of the last that Serenity had learned. She concentrated nearly solely on her footsteps until her attention was brought back to her partner.

"Is something wrong? Did you injure yourself?" There was something in his tone that made her question his sincerity—or was it his teasing?

"I am not a particularly great dancer," Serenity confessed.

"Neither am I," Jadeite told her, "but you can hardly have fun if your partner is ignoring you."

Serenity had the decency to blush. "I am afraid that if I do not look I will— Whoa!"

Her foot fell on top of his—maybe it was his on hers; it was difficult to decipher in this mess. She tumbled forward. He steadied her.

"Are you alright?"

Serenity laughed. "I suppose so."

The dance ended. Serenity sat down next to Mercury.

"Why are you not dancing?" she asked.

Mercury turned back to her coolly. "I do not enjoy it."

Serenity nearly asked why she attended balls before remembering that Mercury _was_ a queen.

"The woman with dark hair dancing with the black-haired man," the blue-haired queen gestured, "her body language suggests that she would rather be dancing with someone else. His shows that his paying no attention to anyone else."

"That's sad," Serenity said.

Mercury nodded. "The red-haired man dancing with the blonde—he is going to propose to her soon."

"Oh, really?"

"May I have the next set?"

Serenity turned to see Kunzite standing above her. She consented.

"I am afraid I am wanted on the dance floor, Mercury! Goodbye!"

Mercury cracked a smile at her antics.

"You are hosting a lovely ball, Queen Serenity," he commented.

Serenity beamed. "Thank you." Step, step, turn, step, step, spin. Kunzite slowed her before she could do a double spin. Serenity laughed in her head. That would be interesting. What everyone would say—"Our queen has only attended one ball and already she can do amazing dance steps." It was unfortunately untrue.

"I saw your near fall with Jadeite. Was that his bad dancing?"

Serenity bit her lip to contain a grin. "We can lay the blame there."

Kunzite actually smiled at her. His dance contained little other talking.

"Serenity!" Jupiter called. Saturn trailed behind her.

"What is happening?"

Saturn grinned. "Mars threatened to burn one of your lords after he asked to dance with her."

Serenity gaped.

"Your advisor—Artemis, I think—took him aside, but it was funny!" cried the brunette.

"It really was," added Saturn.

The moon queen let out a sigh and looked around as the night continued.

Nephrite claimed her hand next. He spoke mostly of the stars.

"Little balls of Cosmos. They know all of the good and what will happen. You must listen of course," he informed her.

"I see," Serenity nodded. "And how did they come to be?"

After a rather long explanation that lasted well into a second dance, Serenity walked herself over to the tables and took a seat. Her feet were immediately relieved. These shoes were near torture. Endymion took a seat across from her.

"Are you tiring, Serenity? Do not fret. The more you attend the better stamina you will build."

Her blue eyes conveyed her answer as her mouth was preoccupied gasping for air. The music changed to the simplest waltz. He offered his hand to her. Serenity smiled. She was suddenly feeling much more up to dancing. As he took her in his arms, she remembered her dance instructor's directions.

"_Try to feel the music."_

There was no conversation then. Serenity only knew the music, the steps, and the feel of Endymion's hands on her. She was thus traded off to Zoisite as a new song came on.

"You have had a busy night."

"I suppose I have," she replied.

"Endym—I mean, my king," Zoisite hastily corrected himself. Step. Step. One spin. Double spin. Step. Step. What Zoisite had said sunk into Serenity's mind. Her eyes bolted up towards his worried green ones. He hadn't been supposed to say that, she realized. Oh well. Now she knew. Nothing to do about it.

She smiled comfortingly to tell him that she wouldn't turn him in. "He allows you to call him by his first name?"

"We have been friends since childhood. We tell each other everything."

"Oh really?" Serenity said, wondering exactly what she could learn from this general.

"Mostly. En—King Endymion won't admit it, but he keeps this locket on his nightstand and it plays a lullaby. If we listen carefully, we hear it very frequently," explained the guard.

She inhaled sharply. "Star-shaped?"—he nodded—"I gave that to him for his birthday one year. His twelfth, I believe."

"Oh," Zoisite said.

The dance ended quietly. She sighed. She hadn't even been able to really speak to Saturn or Jupiter. Why was it that you were only to dance with . . . ? An idea formed in Serenity's head.

"Luna!" she screeched. Luna turned and addressed her. "I need to make an announcement. We are going to have a dance where you dance with someone of the same gender."

Luna raised her eyebrows. "That's an interesting idea, my queen."

"Yes. Go tell the band to stop playing after this song. I will make my announcement then."

Serenity then stumbled off into the crowd. Luna smiled. Life could never be boring with Serenity around.

* * *

><p>There was a flurry of people trying to find partners as Serenity walked back onto the dance floor. She looked for Saturn or Jupiter—maybe she could even dance with Mercury.<p>

A delicate hand found her shoulder and she gasped. She turned around and looked at the orange dress intermixing with long blonde hair.

"Hello, Serenity. Will you dance with me?" Venus asked.

**Yay! A semi-long chapter! And quick too! Anyway, I hope you all like it. This ball is really fun to write. Venus-fans, I'm pretty sure you'll love the next chapter.**

**On another note, I noticed that I've been getting more reviews per chapter (don't jinx it! Knock on wood!) and I would like to thank you all. Reviews really make me want to write. I think it reminds me that I have an unfinished story. I wish I could say that I'll update soon, but my family is going to an amusement park this Saturday . . . and next weekend too. But school will be out by then, so in two or three weeks, the next chapter should be up, unless I magically write another chapter really quickly like this one. See you then!**


	10. Chapter 10

**For those of you who wanted Endymion's letter, I'm going to send a DocX request. I'll send the letter by that. Anyway, I'm finally back from everything and ready to get typing. I hope I don't jinx myself, but I want to have this finished by the end of summer.**

Serenity's face contorted as she took a deliberate slow step to avoid Venus's feet. She tried another and swiftly moved in the opposite direction. She was unsure how exactly this dancing would work out. Perhaps there was a male and female part for a reason.

Narrowly avoiding a scratch on her new heels, Venus smiled and said, "I'll lead. I almost know that the part."

The dancing between the two was not exceedingly talented, but it set up a pattern for the other dancers to follow. Two sets of blue eyes flitted through the room. Each landed on similar sights to their amusement—Mercury and Mars had somehow developed their own dance, and Kunzite and Endymion were a rather interesting pair to watch—until they found each other again. Serenity smiled politely as her eyes drifted away. For once in her lifetime, she didn't have a decent excuse. Neither "I don't want to look at you," nor "I like looking at him," were appropriate, but maybe Venus would accept that she found the male and male dancing pair funny.

"I'm not sure this will start a trend, Serenity, but people will certainly be talking about it for a long time," giggled the blonde queen. She leaned down and whispered, "It's hard not to watch, huh?"

Serenity was sheepish.

"Serenity, I am really proud of you." Venus's smile suddenly seemed less girly and silly. She seemed more like an intelligent woman, a strategist. "With the way you secured yourself in the Alliance. Not many could do that, especially not at your age. It's hard to believe you're only fifteen with the way you act."

"Thank you," said Serenity politely if not awkwardly. The dance steps reflected her mood.

"I must admit that I initially felt bad about lying. I wish your mother's name hadn't been brought into it. She would have never made a separate alliance. I'm glad I did though. I even heard Mars sing your praises a while ago."

Serenity stared. "Th the first meeting. You lied."

"Yes. I gave you a way to prove yourself," agreed Venus.

"You _lied_," repeated Serenity. Her foot shot down on top of the other woman's toes. She flinched.

Venus faltered. "It was for your own good."

"You made everyone believe that my mother manipulated you—that I was going to manipulate you—so I could prove myself."

"No one was going to take a fifteen-year-old seriously." Venus's voice took an indignant turn. Why hadn't Serenity listened to Luna? The Mauan had obviously had some experience with this woman.

"Do you know how hard it was to get anyone to even listen to me? Either I was an idiot used to get their way or a manipulativ ." She refrained from using that kind of language. "They probably thought, 'If she acts like that _now_, imagine how she'll be when she's older.' They could've tried to remove me from the Alliance."

Serenity jerked away from her dance partner by a few feet and rubbed her hands on her dress as if that would remove Venus's actions.

"How could you?" she exclaimed and ran to the door. The blonde's arms fell to her side. She put on a confused expression to look innocent.

Endymion watched as Serenity stormed away. He quickly followed.

Venus took a deep breath as the music became the only sound in the room. Her footsteps joined it as she walked over to Kunzite.

"It seems our partners have left us. Why don't we dance together instead?"

* * *

><p>"Serenity."<p>

The moon queen bit her tongue to keep from answering.

"What did she do?"

"Go away," she sniffled as she played with the hem of her dress. She considered telling him, but she didn't want to hear anything about that plan ever again, even from her own mouth. Piling her silver hair onto her lap, Serenity slid down against the wall to sit on the floor, not caring if it ruined her dress. Endymion sat down beside her. She had to laugh—the side that was warmer was the side with goosebumps.

"What happened?" he asked.

"She lied." Realizing that wasn't enough, Serenity continued. "At the first Alliance meeting. She said that my mother arranged an alliance, but she didn't, and Venus said that she did so I could prove myself."

The king processed that. "She wanted to help you."

"She did a terrible job," Serenity replied. Her curt response silenced the hall for a minute. She ran her fingers over the fabric of her dress and stiffened when she felt them drift towards Endymion's pants. She pulled her legs close to her body. "Her reasoning doesn't even make any sense. It's like she just threw a bunch of words together to explain something she did on whim."

Endymion said nothing. She examined his face.

"Do you understand it?" Serenity hated the haughty tone her voice took.

"No. But she was _trying_ to help you," said Endymion.

Serenity could barely keep herself from pouting. Why wasn't he taking her side? "Right. So when someone lets your dog drown, it's alright, because they were _trying_ to teach it to swim."

Endymion laughed. "It's not—"

"It's not funny!" she screeched.

His voice lowered. He was trying to reason with her. "It's not the same."

"Yes, it is."

"Venus wouldn't have let you founder. She would have admitted what she'd done if you failed. But you didn't," he explained. "In a way, it worked. I doubt I would have really thought you were a good queen if Venus hadn't done this."

Her eyes dried in an instant. "Oh, really?"

"Yes."

Serenity glared at the tile flooring for nearly a minute. When her face rose and turned to him, her eyes blazed with a fury he had never seen in all of the years they argued as children. Serenity was livid. She slammed her hand down on the floor and stood up so she could look down on him. Endymion stood up as well. He towered over her.

"Ever since I was born, you have done everything to make my life miserable. You teased me about my hair, the way I acted, and convinced Uranus and Neptune to treat me like a child long after I grew up. Then, after my coronation, you suddenly realized that our kingdoms would have relations with each other and treating me rudely was a bad idea. It still hardly bothered you." Half the words out of her mouth were lies. Serenity wanted to burst into tears. She'd all but forgotten why she'd hated him as a child. "You treat me _civilly_ for barely a month, and have the nerve to say that you think I'm stupid."

"I didn't—"

She amended herself. "A bad queen. Every other ruler thinks you're so great, but they have no idea what a horrible person you are Why did you even tease me about my hair? You _knew_ it was a tradition in my family—"

Endymion looked slightly amused. Serenity grimaced. He was patronizing her. "You've already spoken about your hair."

"Jus stop it!"

"Serenity, you need to calm down. I know you're angry at Venus," Endymion said gently. He grasped her hands so she couldn't run off.

She struggled anyway. "I'm angry at _you_! You've always been a complete jerk—"

"Serenity—"

"Go away!"

"Please—"

"I never even did anything to you! Does my existence annoy you?" She sobbed. "I hate you," she said softly. Serenity hung her head. She hadn't said it like she truly abhorred him, or was even angry. She sounded like a lover. She might as well have said, "I love you." She didn't look up in fear that he had understood what she'd implicated.

"Serenity," he breathed.

"I'd rather you call me Odango. I don't ever want to hear my name from your lips." The Lunarian could've groaned. Why had she mentioned his lips?

"I really think you should let this go."

Serenity's face gave away her thoughts. Why should she let go of fifteen years' worth of hatred?

He clarified. "With Venus. If not for yourself, then for the Alliance. I doubt anyone will remove Venus because she tried to help you," he said.

She turned to go. "King Endymion, would you please inform Luna that I will not be returning to the party?"

"You're acting like a child," Endymion said.

"I thought you said that's what you thought I was," she retorted.

"I never said that."

"You might as well have. Just tell Luna and leave." She didn't care how rude she was being. Serenity tightened her arms around her torso and began to climb up the stairs. Endymion could hear her whispering, "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you."

* * *

><p>"Everyone has left," Luna called to her queen from behind the office doors, where Serenity had locked herself in.<p>

"Good. I never ever want to hold a ball again, and I never want to go to one either." Her voice was muffled, but she still sounded like she'd been crying.

"Will you come out?"

"No. I want to go to Mars."

Luna blinked. "It's really late, Serenity. What do you need to go to Mars for?"

"I want to talk to her."

"You can talk to me."

The door clicked and Serenity emerged. Advisor and queen sat on the couch. Serenity laid her head on Luna's shoulder and thought about how she could explain. "I feel like I was arguing for stupid reasons."

"Anger is that way," Luna said.

"You were right. Venus did that on purpose. She said she was trying to help. Endymion tried to tell me that. That she wanted to help me. I don't understand how he could take her side." Luna wrapped her arms around the blue-eyed girl. "Luna, am I being dumb? I don' wan don't know what to do anymore. I don't feel angry at all.

"But," Serenity continued as another harsh look crossed her features, "he didn't try to comfort me at all! He just told me I was wrong! Why did he even try to talk to me then?"

Luna smiled sadly. This was something her queen would have to figure out herself. "Serenity, I just want you to remember that King Endymion came after you."

Serenity hummed to show that she was listening.

"He didn't chase after Venus and comfort her. He didn't pretend he hadn't heard anything. He found _you_. He told you what he thought. He was trying to help you," Luna explained.

Serenity stiffened and jumped away. With a glance back at Luna, she slammed the door shut, calling, "You sound just like him"

**Ugh. Shortest chapter ever for this story, but I really don't want to write anymore. I think I have everything I wanted in this chapter, and honestly, that's good enough for me.**

**The argument scene was so much fun to write. I tried to make it like a real argument. You don't always have good comebacks, sometimes you don't know what to say and repeat yourself, and later, you can feel like you placed your anger at the wrong person. That's what Serenity did.**


	11. Chapter 11

**It took me a while to even start this chapter. It's very difficult to write. I hope you like it because I think this was the hardest yet. With the next chapter, this story will be half-finished. It's hard for me to believe that I've got that much of it finished already. It seems like I just started writing. And my babbling ends now.**

**P.S. Have you seen my horrible cover for this? When I get around to it, I'll make a hand-drawn one. I do much better on paper, and MS Paint isn't a very good program to use anyway.**

As the castle came into view, growing larger and large until she could make out each individual brick, Serenity slinked farther and farther away from the exit. She was not in a pleasant mood, and she knew of two people there that she did not wish to be reunited with even when she was in a good mood. The seats shook as the ship landed and the engine shut off. When the whir ceased, Luna expected Serenity to leap up. She did not.

Luna nudged Serenity toward the door.

"I don't want to go!" she whined. "Can't we just go back to the Moon and stay there?"

"My queen, this is a very important meaning. You were just complaining about King Endymion not believing you were a good queen. How can you prove him wrong if you go back?" the advisor said. It didn't affect Serenity. "You don't have a choice. Go in. Now."

"Venus is in there. And Endymion," Serenity whispered.

"All the better to prove yourself then. We won't leave until you go in," Luna declared.

Jupiter appeared at the door. "Aren't you going to come in, Serenity? The meeting is starting soon, and you don't want to be late again. At least you're dressed correctly this time."

Serenity flushed. Realizing there was no way she could leave now, she hopped out and followed Jupiter inside.

* * *

><p>"Good day!" greeted Jupiter cheerfully as she walked in with Serenity.<p>

"Hello, Jupiter. Hello, Serenity," called Venus. The moon queen looked at her coldly and took the seat farthest away from her. Uranus looked at her slowly. An exaggerated smile made its way to her face as Serenity began to chatter about—well, honestly, she didn't even know what she was talking about. She just didn't want to look at that woman.

She successfully babbled on until the meeting began, therefore avoiding all questions about Serenity's ball _and_ giving her an excuse to not look at Endymion. In fact, Serenity was in a way pleased with herself. She didn't think she could maintain comity with either of the two today.

"Will we begin the meeting, then?" Pluto asked once everyone seemed to run out of greetings.

"Yes," answered Venus decisively.

"I think we've all agreed that we're ready to join together, except for Mars."

The nine looked at the Martian. She didn't flinch at their glares; her glower in return made Mercury look away. The rhythmic tap of fingers—pointer, middle, ring, pinky—was the only sound to fill the room for a minute. No one was in an hurry to say anything. Finally, Mars relented and gained undivided attention.

"I have told you what it will take to get me to join the Alliance," Mars said slowly. "If you do not give me that, I will not join the Alliance."

Saturn averted her gaze from the rest of the table.

Endymion straightened his torso. "I see no reason why we should exclude one because another does not want thing, especially if the first has no qualms about them being there." His eyes flickered to Serenity. She felt like she was on fire with embarrassment, but did not retort. She couldn't agree with Mars without ruining Saturn.

"It depends on if the reason is valid." The young queen was hardly aware of the movement of her lips. "This one, however, I think we all deem as silly."

Saturn stood up. She started to make her way to the door as she whispered, "I think that I should just leave. We obviously are not welcomed. My people don't want to be merely tolerated."

"No!" Serenity and Endymion both exclaimed. She eyed him harshly.

"Saturn, you can prove yourself. You don't need to bow to what others want you to do, and you don't need help," Serenity said stubbornly. Venus shrunk low into her chair.

Mercury rose. "I've had enough of this. You two have been acting exceedingly rude to each other, even more so than when you were children, and I'm convinced it's because of whatever happened at your ball, Serenity. I don't want to hear anymore arguing. I motion that you either stop or explain exactly what happened."

"Seconded," Uranus spoke suddenly.

"Thirded."

"Fourthed."

"Fifthed."

"Sixthed."

"Seventhed."

Mercury's dark blue eyebrows bunched together. "Those aren't words . . . ."

Serenity plopped ungracefully back into her seat, head turned away from everyone else. She said, "I won't tell. If I tell what really happened, I'll _offend_ someone. Besides, I'm too young to do anything by myself." She grimaced at everyone who looked at her. Serenity wasn't known to act like this.

Endymion refused to say anything either.

"I think I should tell. I know some of what happened," Venus offered. "Well, before Serenity left the room.

"I'm sure you all remember what I said the first meeting Serenity was—queen. I said that because I knew that everyone in the room thought she was too young to be ruler. Please don't argue; we all know it's true. We actually had that discussion while Selene was ill." She glanced apologetically at Serenity. The Lunarian wasn't sure exactly what for—the meeting or the mention of her mother. "While we were dancing, I said to Serenity essentially what I said to you. She didn't react well. She was very angry and left. As for the nature of Serenity and Endymion's argument, I would presume it has something to do with this."

The sovereigns contemplated this quietly for a moment.

"Serenity, you need to get over it," Uranus said. Neptune nodded.

Saturn looked nervous to say anything. "It's trivial."

Mercury pondered on her own before answering, "Venus, I honestly don't like that you would lie to us about that. You had no business in Serenity's affairs, and I agree—she can take care of herself. I don't think I can trust someone like you in this alliance, and she has no reason to after your 'plan'."

"I don't. I won't stay in any Alliance with Venus ever," Serenity admitted. She then left the room to wait for her ship to return.

The room quieted by her departure, Jupiter took the chance to speak. "I believe Serenity's reason is valid."

"I second." Mars had moved from her seat next to Venus to stand behind Jupiter. She gripped the edge of the table.

To the others' surprise, Pluto said, "We outnumber you," referring to herself, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn.

"Only if Endymion sides with you. What is your choice, Endymion?" Mercury said.

"Endymion?" Neptune countered.

"I . . . Venus was only trying to help."

"It's settled," Pluto spoke once again. "Venus will remain in the Alliance."

Jupiter and Mercury also stood up. The trio stood close to emphasize their point. "Then _we _will not."

* * *

><p>Something Serenity would have gained from the Alliance would have been Mercury's faster ships. She would have really liked that. Serenity had a feeling that when the meeting was adjourned, she'd still be out here waiting. Her intuition was confirmed when the click of shoes on concrete grew closer and closer to her. Serenity glanced backwards to see who was there.<p>

"We agree with you," Jupiter offered. "We left too."

"You realize they will be aligned against us?" Serenity didn't think highly of her whilom allies.

Mercury smiled. "Are we not aligned against them? Together, we all have Venus and Earth cornered?"

Serenity couldn't contain a giggle. "I suppose we will have to have a meeting to see." She stood up and brushed the dust from her dress. Mars boarded her ship and left the planet. Jupiter waved goodbye as she too hurried off. Serenity didn't blame them. She didn't want to stick around here any longer.

"We will. Your ships must be very slow," Mercury said.

Serenity felt a blush for her people appear.

"Good day."

"Good day."

A few moments later, more footsteps could be heard. Serenity wanted to groan. She _really_ didn't want to speak to any of _them_.

"You should have let it go, Serenity!" She couldn't decide he was actually angry or just scolding her. She didn't think it mattered.

Serenity turned around and faced him. She wasn't going to back down. "I have no reason to."

"You know, you _are_ too young! Because you couldn't act like an adult and be civil to Venus, you've torn apart an alliance we all worked hard on for months. Your mother would be very disappointed. She wanted this alliance to work more than anyone, and you ruined it by being petty. And you wonder why we treat you like a child?"

"My mother wouldn't want me to suffer this abuse," Serenity said.

Endymion replied, "Your mother would be very disappointed to have you as a daughter."

Tears pricked her eyes. "You're just mean!"

She rushed around a corner and waited for her ship to arrive.

**The first scene is how I always acted when my mom dropped me off for school. We'd have whole conversations about skipping, but in the end, I always had to go. School sucks.**

**I want to know who you all side with. I've always sided with Serenity, but partially understood why Venus did it. The more that I've written, the less sympathetic I am. Just let me know what you think.**

**Normally, I hate when authors leave notes about one of their other stories, but I'm actually getting **_**really**_** annoyed. For those of you that reviewed "Whisper" asking for a second chapter, I have no intention of ever writing another one. If you're confused and you want to know something, message me, but do **_**not**_** beg for me to continue. When I wrote it, I meant for it to be very vague and difficult to understand. That is the style of the writing. I explained somewhat at the end. It does not take place in the first season; it's manga-based and after the end of the manga. If I get another message saying "What happened to Usagi?" I will delete the story. I specifically mention it. I don't want to delete it because I love the story, but I can't take being hounded by questions anymore. Author's notes are there for a **_**reason**_**. Read them. (I will also advise you to take this seriously because it takes a lot for me to lose my patience.)**


	12. Chapter 12

**I suppose we are reaching the end of the first arc. The next few chapters will be rather peaceful and mostly filler.**

**I apologize for such a long wait. I have been very irritated at people who don't read important author's notes. The worst part is that those of you who are reading this aren't even the problem! Since you are reading, thank you. It means a lot to me.**

Serenity didn't think about it for hours. She didn't ponder it while she tried to sleep. She didn't let the (_nonexistent_) guilt Endymion had given her fester until she had to do this. Three weeks after the last, disastrous Alliance meeting, Serenity had been lying in bed, trying to warm her feet when she suddenly stood up and walked to her office. She plucked a pen from under the jumble of papers, found four blank pieces and began to write. She addressed each recipient and proceeded to pen three identical letters. Finally, Serenity declared to herself that they were finished. She read them quietly to herself.

"'I would like to say I've thought about this, but I have not. I would like to say I have it under control, but I do not. A few months ago, I told myself that I would bring the Silver Alliance together because my mother wanted it. I won't break that promise to her. I'll do anything to keep it.

"'This means apologizing to Venus. I don't want to. I don't want to forgive her. In fact, I doubt I will, but I cannot let this get in the way of politics. What she did was out of line, yes, and completely unprofessional, but I will not do the same.

"'I'm sure that you're wondering why I'm writing to you and explaining all of this. This Thursday afternoon at 2:30 PM, I will invite Venus to tea. I do not want to be there alone. Because you are one of few that supported my decision in leaving the Alliance, I would like to invite you as well. I am hoping you will insure that I don't get anything less than what I deserve. I'm not asking you this as a fellow ruler. I really need help right now, and I know I can trust you. I understand if you don't want to come. I didn't really have a strong connection with anyone when I was a child. I hope that this letter will be enough to convince you.

"'Sincerely,

"'Queen Serenity.'" The words fell from her lips in mumbles. She sighed. Serenity was sure that the letter was missing something, but she couldn't put anything else into. Everything crucial was already there.

Her hand drifted to another, more cheerful, if not formal, letter. She would send them both tomorrow.

Unconsciously, Serenity's eyes drifted to Earth.

* * *

><p>The pristine tea room was set for five. Serenity traced her fingers along the intricate patterns of the chair. She memorized each loop and curl. The door squeaked as it opened. Serenity reminded herself to tell one of the servants. She held back a sigh. She didn't want to see who this was. She wanted to put this off longer.<p>

She looked up.

"Um—hello," Venus greeted. She shuffled inside. Serenity avoided her gaze. "I'm sorry."

Serenity, surprised, walked over to stand next to Venus.

"I shouldn't have done what I did. It doesn't change the fact that I did or anything that happened, but you do deserve an apology. I was overstepping my boundaries as an ally to you and the others. . . . I'm willing to withdraw from the Alliance. You and the others may resume your places," said the queen.

Serenity sat back down and took a drink of tea. When she spoke, she did so slowly and calmly. Venus felt that she would leave her life in this woman's hands. That startled her. Serenity was seven years her junior. "I forgive you. You do not need to withdraw from the Alliance. I will rejoin. I do not speak for the others."

The door squealed in the midst of her speech. Mars did not greet either of her equals and pulled her chair out roughly. She said, "No, you do not. The only reason I am even attending is because I knew that you would not take what you deserve. Everyone who sided with Venus should apologize.

"As for you," Mars continued, turning her inimical speech towards her childhood friend. She sighed. "We shall have to keep you in the Alliance. We can't let your planet suffer."

"You are returning as well?" Serenity asked.

Mars said that she would. The door squeaked and revealed two more voices. Mercury and Jupiter were talking animatedly. Mercury's eyes iced at seeing Venus. Jupiter's joviality was lost. Despite the discomfort her guest felt at being in this situation, Serenity lived up to her name and related her decision.

Mercury carefully went along. "My people do need this alliance. I cannot let personal feelings get in the way of their wellbeing."

Jupiter thought it best to rejoin too. "Although," she added, "that doesn't change my opinion of them. They still did not see their errors. Venus, thank you for this idea. There are no rules about other alliances. I suggest we create one of our own—for insurance. I am not sure I trust the others anymore. In case they ever turn on us, we will protect each other instead."

"We can be friends!" cried Serenity. Startled looks turned her way. She shuffled nervously in her seat, whispering, "I have never truly had friends."

Venus grinned. "I am glad there are no harsh feelings. I don't mean to be presumptuous in saying this, but I truly believed I was helping you, Serenity. I do not understand what clouded my judgment, but I was trying to help."

"Endymion said that," quietly replied Serenity. She broke her trance as she ordered a servant to make more tea. The group chattered a bit more. Venus occasionally glanced over, remembering the slip Serenity had made. Something about that relationship made Venus smile. After all, she was in charge of love.

* * *

><p>Inside of Time, Pluto watched. Setsuna watched. The two personas—existences—blurred together, even as only one, both, or neither of them were there. No one else understood how this could be possible. She did. It was her job to do so.<p>

Pluto watched the exchange between the group of five—in way actually meaning her words with an emphasis on _the_—that would eventually become Sailor senshi in approval. Time was moving as it should. Nothing was out of place.

Setsuna watched the conversation that took place long before her time, where her younger friends slowly came together and set off a chain reaction, in despair. It wouldn't be long before the end would come. The Silver Millennium would fall and a new reality would take its place.

Sailor Pluto sighed and shifted to get more comfortable. This was her duty. She continued to watch.

* * *

><p>". . . should."<p>

"No," Mars answered forcefully.

Mercury heaved a frustrated breath. "I see no reason that Saturn should not be accepted. Yes, the Silence Glaive is a deadly weapon, but it has been entrusted in her family for generations. None of them have ever exploited it."

"Saturn is a good person," added Jupiter.

"I feel a strange aura about her," Mars admitted. "Her obsessions with death and birth do not bode well."

Serenity glanced at Mars curiously. "Saturn isn't obsessed with death."

The older women exchanged looks and changed the subject.

"She hasn't killed anyone," insisted Jupiter.

Venus smiled. "Please, Mars? Just let her in."

Mars hesitated. She sipped her tea to keep from answering and glanced at the window to deflect attention. Hm. She could see Earth from here. And if she was right, Serenity could see it even better from her seat. She wondered if the moon queen had specifically sat there.

"Alright, I suppose I could," Mars agreed.

Tea lasted for another four hours.

* * *

><p>In the palace on the moon, there is a room that not even the queen knows about. Well, there <em>was<em> a room. The palace on the moon is in shambles now. When the palace was at its peak, though, it could seem to be a labyrinth, particularly to Queen Serenity, who hadn't been gifted with a sense of direction. To get to this room, you had to go through so many twists and turns, it almost wasn't worth looking for it.

It was a fairly nice room. It had a bed, a bookshelf, and a secret passage to the kitchen. It was good place to hide in.

**I know it's short, but I haven't updated in nearly a month and I don't want you to forget about this story. In other news, I'm rereading the manga where the Outers come in, so hopefully they'll be better in character in upcoming chapters.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm updating this because I received one of the best reviews I've ever received. It completely sparked my thoughts on this story and gave me a goal. The reason this all disappeared? I decided to use this story to bring together my thoughts on a controversial subject and it did way more than that. I realized that the way I was planning to go about it was different than my beliefs and I could not write it. But I also had not figured out my beliefs fully and needed time to think. I have had enough.**

**The subject: homosexuality. I don't want to see any reviews defending it because I AM NOT AGAINST IT! Read that again. I come from a town where this is not spoken of lightly or almost at all. Honestly, coming up with an opinion I believed was very difficult. I am going to leave it at that. I also do not want to see anyone saying that it's not a controversial subject. I'm afraid it is, at least where I'm from.**

**This introduction has been kind of a downer, so read on please. I don't want to speak about it anymore. **

Serenity glanced out the large window. She didn't know if she was hoping or dreading that someone would drop by. She didn't have the courage to speak up to anyone at this point and she was still hurt. She had trusted Uranus and Neptune, and she'd thought Saturn was her friend. Serenity trembled.

If Pluto had decided that Serenity was wrong, maybe it was supposed to happen. Pluto never messed with the time stream.

What really hurt was that Endymion had acted so bitterly towards her. Every one of his words—_"Your mother would be disappointed to have you as a daughter," "You're acting like a child," _and_ "I doubt you would have made a good queen."_—echoed in her mind. He didn't understand at all. She lowered her eyes and blinked back tears.

"Your Majesty, Queen Saturn is here to see you."

Serenity sat up swiftly and thanked the servant. The servant bowed and exited. The queen frowned. Her clothes were really tattered. Had she been so preoccupied that she wasn't noticing what was going on around her kingdom? She froze when Saturn daintily stepped into the room. She walked over to Serenity, waiting for permission to sit down. The young queen begrudgingly gave it.

"Serenity, I know you are upset."

She merely nodded.

Saturn continued, "Please don't be. I simply said what I believed. You are still my friend and one of the first people to accept my planet into the Alliance, and I am very grateful to you. I also beg you to return. You must learn that you do not always get your way, and you are not always correct."

Those ideas hadn't even crossed her mind. Serenity slowly turned to face her and gave an awkward smile. "I have already made the decision, as has everyone else. I was unsure how to inform anyone. I suppose I forgive you," said Serenity. "I do think that you must have stopped by for some other reason."

Saturn's flummoxed nod gave her away. "Endymion invited me to a festival on Earth—I believe he said it was a 'Full Moon' festival . . . .—in any case I do not wish to attend alone. I would like to extend the invitation to you. I am sure he will not mind."

As if in a daze, Serenity agreed. She had to believe that she _was_ in fact in a daze. She had long since believed that Earth was a strange planet, no matter how much she favored it, but to celebrate the appearance of another kingdom was certainly odd enough. Saturn then explained the details to her guest. When she mentioned that she should perhaps inform the host of the extra person, Saturn jumped up and headed off to Earth. Serenity hoped that Endymion wouldn't decline. She very much wanted to see this "Full Moon Festival".

Endymion's greetings were as charming as always, but Serenity felt that maybe he had gripped her hand too tightly and looked at her too long. She wondered if he was still angry at her. Serenity gave a brief notice of her decision and internally grimaced at the triumphant look Endymion gave her.

Serenity was quick to ask, but she phrased her question in the least confrontational way she could find. "And what is this festival all about?"

"Before Earth had any contact with the other planets," the king explained, "we only saw the moon, and even then we had no idea there was civilization on it. Many thought it controlled the weather, their fortunes, and some even thought that the moon was a person. This was created to pay tribute and it's become a tradition."

Serenity gave a curt answer. Saturn spoke of traditions from her planet's more primitive times.

"My father once told me of . . . ." She suddenly stopped and seemed very little inclined to continue. Serenity urged her despite of this. "When infants were newborn, they were able to tell if they had a chance of survival. If they didn't, it was a spectacle to see how thin the line of life and death is. This was very long ago, of course."

Serenity shivered at the idea. It sounded terrible. She glanced over to Endymion. He seemed to overcome the awkwardness of the statement and changed the subject immediately before both women became too uncomfortable. He showed them the festivities of the day, where they would be watching in the evening, and brought them to Jadeite. Jadeite had been born in the area of the world from which the festival originated. The guard told folk tales, many of which Serenity found amusing and some which coincided with events her kingdom's history, and the best yet, he told her of mooncakes.

"What are those?" Serenity asked eagerly. Endymion, who had been scowling in the doorway as he watched Serenity's rapture at the tales, stepped forward immediately. He offered to take her kitchen; she accepted and rose happily. He smiled at the look on her face. Saturn politely said that she wished to hear more stories, so the two set off alone.

Once in the kitchen, Serenity took in everything. There was such a variety of foods she had never seen before. Running from one area to the other, she asked questions with such fervor that Endymion hardly could find a place to answer her. Any dish she had ever tasted and more was spread throughout. She glanced back to the king, prepared to instigate another interrogation, only to find that a few of his servants were gaping at him. The king was clearly not a typical visitor to his kitchen. Serenity found that strange. She could hardly manage to stay away from her. A giggle escaped her lips, causing the servants to look at her. Only the eldest had ever met her before, and she had been small. Most of the servants did not know who Serenity was.

"Er, Endymion," she began. The servants were startled at her use of his name. Who was this girl? "Would you mind . . . ? Um, what is this?"

"They're noodle dishes. Zoisite's portion of the world celebrates this day with more of a . . . I suppose you could call a food-related way," said Endymion. "Many of these dishes are from there."

Serenity nodded. Feeling a bit like a child, she moved to the next dish and asked, "What's this?"

Something seemed to go through his head. He said rather quietly, "These are called otsukimi odango—but no one recognizes that name. If you mention it, say tsukimi dango."

"Odango," she repeated. Suddenly Endymion's nickname for her made quite a bit of sense. She meant to say something, but the flustered king was already hurrying her away.

"The festivities will start in a minute. We have no more time," said Endymion.

Serenity was not pleased at being forced to move so quickly. "Can you not order them to wait?"

To her surprise, he laughed loudly. "I cannot order the world to stop turning, Serenity, just as you cannot order the moon to stop orbiting Earth."

They burst through a door that led to a balcony. Serenity saw that Saturn and Jadeite were already standing there beside the rest of his guard. She ran their names through her head one more time to ensure that she knew which was which—Kunzite, Zoisite, Nephrite, Jadeite. She curtsied and spoke softly about what she had seen.

Saturn reached for Serenity's hands and held them in her own. "You would have enjoyed the stories. General . . . er, Zoisite just told me another one. It was about the . . . oh, I think it's called the Su Kino Usa?"

"Tsuki no Usagi," the aforementioned general corrected politely. "It means Rabbit of the Moon, if you please, your Majesty."

"I suppose 'rabbit' fits you rather well, Serenity," teased Saturn softly. Serenity blushed. She regretted telling that story to Saturn as she had reminded the five men of Serenity's exploits.

The moon reached its peak, and Saturn informed her host that she was needed on her home planet.

"Have a safe journey!" called Serenity cheerfully. Once the ship disappeared from sight, she resumed her questions, much to Endymion's displeasure. He decided that he had heard enough.

"Serenity, if you are this interested, you should borrow a book," he said.

"I apologize," explained Serenity, "but it's strange to me. Not the festival, but how I have realized how little I know of any of the planets culturally."

Endymion paused. "Is there anything I should know about Lunarians?"

"Yes," said Serenity. "We rarely wear shoes."

He blinked as if he were surprised then laughed. He turned and looked at the moon. Serenity leaned closer to the edge of the balcony. Endymion pointed to show her the pattern they called the Tsuki No Usagi. It took her a minute to find it, but Serenity saw that the shape was a rabbit from Earth.

"That's the Sea of Serenity. It's what I'm named for," she said.

Endymion glanced up and said, "The moon really is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Serenity stared into his eyes. He'd turned back to her at the start of the sentence. Her heart thumped. She turned away, twirling a piece of her silver hair. It felt soft in her fingers. Did it look soft to Endymion? Did he want to touch it? . . . Serenity was fifteen, she reminded herself. There was a seven-year age difference.

Who was she kidding? Serenity was in love with Endymion.

"I believe I need to return home as well," she muttered.

"Oh," he said. He opened his mouth again. "Oh."

She waited for him to say something. He didn't. She left.

Serenity shuffled in her seat and looked at the two women in front of her. Was there ever such a different pair? Neptune, with her slender, dark green eyes and turquoise hair, was the embodiment of elegance and in a way different from Venus, beauty. Uranus, with choppy pale hair and almost masculine eyes, was beautiful as well. Beauty was so strange. It appeared in so many ways. Serenity almost wanted to laugh. Was she acting like this just because she was in love? That was a silly reason. She must have been in love a while before she even realized.

"Are you listening?" asked Uranus, amused.

"No," said Serenity honestly. She swung her feet. She was rather bored and anticipated getting home. She wished that they would tell her something she could relate to. Serenity was a responsible queen, but she was a fifteen-year-old. Was any of this holding her attention? Of course not.

Neptune smiled gracefully. She said, "Do you know why we asked you here?"

"No," said Serenity again.

Uranus stated very simply, "We're getting married."

Serenity beamed at them. "That's wonderful!"

Neptune stared at her in wonderment. Uranus seemed to have a similar expression. Serenity's wide blue eyes blinked at them before she rolls them and looks around the room. Same crystal-looking walls, same blue and green tiles. It was nothing Serenity hadn't seen before.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked eventually. Their expressions were peculiar.

Neptune shook her head. Her hair brushed her forehead and she pushed it behind her ears. "Most other kingdoms are slightly repulsed by the idea. We had expected the same from you."

"It's rather commonplace," said Serenity. She was surprised at the idea of it being unacceptable. She had always been raised to believe that love was love. What difference did it make?

" . . . I see," replied Neptune.

Serenity said, "That's why you called me here?"

"Yes," said Uranus.

Neptune elaborated. "We wanted to tell you personally. If anything, Serenity, you are our friend and we want to maintain that relationship. If the Moon had not had its views, we would have tried to . . . I don't know . . . adjust you to the idea."

". . . I see," said Serenity, mimicking the look Neptune had given her earlier. She smiled and seemed to be laughing at a joke in her head. She grabbed the bottom of her pale dress, contrasting starkly with her skin darkened from the harsh heat of the sun that was only increased by the moon's atmosphere, and began to let the hem trail on the floor. "I'm afraid I need to leave. I have paperwork . . . so much paperwork. I really am happy for you, though. Please invite me to your wedding."

"Of course," replied Neptune. Serenity then hurried out the door. Neptune turned to her fiancée and smiled. "She's a nice girl."

Uranus nodded. "She is."

"There's something about her that almost forces you to like her," said Neptune.

"Yes."

"Are you just agreeing with me?"

"Of course not."

". . . I don't believe you."

"You shouldn't."

**I hope it's not too bad. I'm trying to move on with the story now. Feel free to tell me what you'd like to see in the story.**


	14. Chapter 14

**After yet another long absence, I return! Here's the next chapter.**

With ten monarchs in a room, it would be easy to presume that at least one would to try to seize control. Yet they all simply looked at each other in an awkward, almost clumsy,d way. Finally, Pluto rose with some hesitation and looked at them. They all straightened and sat at attention. (I would have liked to say in a graceful fashion, but Serenity nearly slipped out of her chair and after some tittering, so did Saturn.)

"We are finished," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Neptune.

Pluto smiled. "Simply that. Do any of you have anything else to add? Isn't this meeting simply to confirm that we all agree to what we're doing?"

Venus nodded. "But . . . ."

"Then what are we speaking for? I believe that the Silver Alliance has formed. _And_ we're dismissed." Pluto stood. She wrapped her black shawl around herself and left the room. The remaining nine looked at each other before slowly gathering all of their things. Neptune left on Uranus's arm, receiving a few questioning looks from others to Serenity's surprise. Mercury straightened the crystal circlet on her head, grabbed her book, and walked out. Endymion met his guards at the door and left. The rest hung around to chat and catch up and perhaps even apologize for what had transcended in the case of Jupiter and Saturn. Serenity walked over to Mars.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully. Venus joined them.

Mars sighed slowly. "How do you do, Serenity? If you have nothing of importance to say, please don't speak to me."

"That's not nice," chided Venus.

The Martian smiled. "She knows I tease."

"I would be offended if I didn't," agreed Serenity. "But isn't it odd to not be thinking over what has happened?"

Mars smirked and asked, "Are you not?" to which the other replied, "Yes, amusing. But I mean, is it not odd to not have to decide what is most important to your kingdom? When you must fight and when to relent? I'm sure that even you must admit that not every battle that has taken place needed be."

Venus and Mars exchanged looks. Mars tossed her hair over her shoulder and proceeded to walk away with a brief nod in concession to Serenity. Venus beamed and took ahold of Serenity's arm.

"Well, that settles that. Why don't you come over for some tea?"

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Serenity. I didn't see you after the meeting yesterday. How was it?" asked Luna. She sat down at the breakfast table, placing her hand on the light wood for support. She poured a glass of juice (which in shiny wine goblet seemed almost humorous) and smiled at the queen. Serenity hurriedly chewed the food in her mouth and beamed back. She took another bite before she was able to come up with an answer.<p>

She shrugged. "Oh, it was alright, I suppose. No one has anything else they want and we just don't know what to do yet." She took a sip of water. "That must mean I'm _not_ the least mature of the rulers. I have the I'm-fifteen-how-should-I-know-how-to-rule? excuse. Oh well. I suppose there's nothing much to do about it."

The two nodded and ate in silence until Artemis came down to join them. He sat next to Luna. Serenity closed her eyes and sighed, wondering why they weren't married yet. It honestly didn't make any sense.

"You know, the Alliance doesn't have to meet anymore. You could just go about running things as usual," suggested Luna.

Serenity said, "Oh. Well, that makes a lot of sense. We really should do that."

Artemis grinned. "And then you'll have time for all the stuff you've been missing out on while working on that."

Luna scowled. "_I_ think," she said, "that Serenity should be using this extra time to work for the better of the kingdom. Such as . . . finding a king, for example."

Both Serenity and Artemis sighed.

"I told you, Luna: I don't need to marry yet. I'm only fifteen; no one else is married yet; it won't benefit the Moon exponentially unless I find someone pertinent enough; and more over, _I don't want to get married yet_!" With that as a final word, Serenity stuffed another bit of food into her mouth and ate. Upon seeing that Luna intended to speak, Serenity finished her drink with an air of insouciance. She rose from the table swiftly and calmly stepped out of the room, leaving the two advisors on their own. Artemis looked at Luna for a second. She turned back to her breakfast and ate in her mannered fashion.

Artemis said, "Why are you pressuring her, Luna?"

She didn't answer.

"Lu?"

The Mauan scowled. "Don't call me that. . . . I received another letter from Mewla. It seems as if she fears that whatever is happening at home is coming here _fast_."

"Well . . . ," Artemis stuttered, trying to calm her down, "perhaps she's paranoid. After all, it hasn't Mau yet."

"We know that Sailor Mau is dead," replied Luna. "And I received that letter two months ago. I wrote back immediately. There's been no reply."

Artemis was silent. He tapped his foot on the checkered tile. "Should we awaken . . . ?"

"No. Not yet."

"Why are you pressuring her, though?" he asked eventually. He was relieved to find something else to speak about.

Luna smiled briefly before looking to the large window where she saw only stars. She moved her fork to the side and folded her hands while contemplating how to explain this. "If . . . if whatever is happening makes it here and we aren't able to train them in time . . . I want Serenity to have something happy to think about. When she has to be . . . ."

"She'll be happier if she marries for love."

"Marrying for love is preposterous."

The advisors stared at each other. Artemis frowned and stormed out of the room much like the queen. "I'm sorry you feel that way."

Luna ate breakfast alone.

* * *

><p>Serenity hummed, rocking back and forth in her seat on the way to see a friend.<p>

"I'm going to visit _Sa_-turn, _Sa_-turn, _Sa_-turn. I'm going to visit _Sa_-turn, la di da di da!" she sang. Finally, the ship came to a stop. The queen cheerfully skipped off to the entrance. She stopped the first servant she saw and greeted them. The woman, pale, dark-haired, and dark-eyed, was unaccustomed to speaking with royalty.

"Your . . . your Majesty, Queen Serenity."

"Yes," said the queen. "May I ask where Queen Saturn is? I had the spontaneous idea to visit. It will be so nice to see her again."

"F-five rooms down, your Majesty," said the servant.

Serenity grinned. "Thank you!"

She walked down the hall, full of dull pastels and dreary neutrals before finally finding the room she had been pointed to. She opened the door and sure enough Queen Saturn was kneeling on the floor, paying careful attention to what she was doing. Then she rose. After a few seconds, she glanced behind her, saw Serenity, and gasped.

Because Serenity had seen Saturn pick the Silence Glaive. She had seen Saturn drop the weapon. She then saw the queen catch just before it hit the floor and detonated. Serenity had seen Saturn take a chance on the whole universe for an unknown, probably inane, reason.

Serenity stepped back and screamed.

"Serenity, wait!" cried Saturn.

She screeched and ran and ran until she couldn't hear any footsteps behind her. Serenity froze and looked around. She grabbed another servant. "Wh-where's the nearest exit?"

With that, Serenity left the planet.

* * *

><p>Mars didn't know why Serenity was on her planet and she didn't know how she got there. In fact, she didn't know what Serenity was saying through the sobs. She ran a hand through her friend's hair (which was mysteriously falling out of its typical style, noted Mars) and down her back, trying to calm her down.<p>

"What happened, Serenity?" demanded Mars.

Serenity stopped crying. She sat up and took a few breaths. She wiped her cheeks, licked her lips, calmed herself. "I saw Saturn drop the Silence Glaive," she said meticulously. She didn't let emotion into her tone.

Mars frowned. "We should be dead then."

"She caught it," continued the queen, "but just barely."

The two sat in silence (which made Serenity twitch nervously until Mars moved to comfort her again). Mars closed her violet eyes and took everything into consideration. She checked what she had heard.

"Saturn nearly destroyed the universe."

A nod.

"On purpose?"

Another.

Mars pursed her lips and rose. "This is grave. I will not remain in an alliance with her. . . . I knew something like this was going to happen. No one listened to me." She cursed. "I should have listened to _myself_. This is . . . . Go home, Serenity. I need to be alone right now. This changes my whole argument." Mars stared at Serenity until she rose and left the room.

Standing just outside the door, Serenity realized that Saturn was going to be put to sleep.

* * *

><p>Curled up in her bed after an un-restful night, Serenity squirmed away when Ariana put a hand on her shoulder.<p>

"I apologize, my queen, but you must rise."

Serenity mumbled and pulled the blankets tighter.

Ariana sighed. "At least tell me what you want for breakfast."

Finally, a soft, "What day is it?" came from the blankets. The handmaiden answered. "Oh. Well, whatever food we normally have."

Ariana frowned. "_Just_ the food?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Serenity pulled the blankets up back around her head, hoping to sleep for a little while more else she be forced to rise and face the day, which meant facing what she had told Mars yesterday. Even the thought suddenly made her wide awake. With a sigh, Serenity sat up and waited for Ariana to return and dress her.

Once she was prepared for the day, the queen hurried down the stairs to the dining room which was already set for breakfast and filled with food. Serenity took her seat quietly and waited for her the rest of the company to join her. (Although that was proper, it was something Serenity rarely did; after all, she woke up hungry.)

Luna sat down next to her queen for a change. She looked at everything on the table and quirked a smile. "Is there a reason there's no liquid on the table, dear?"

"I believe I told Ariana to tell the cook to serve only food," muttered the silver-haired girl.

Luna frowned. She asked, "Is something wrong, Serenity?"

". . . Of all people, why _Mars_?" she cried suddenly. "I should have gone to . . . Venus. She thinks things through more than people realize; I mean, look at what she did to me. Or Mercury. I can't imagine someone who could think of things more logically. Or Jupiter. Jupiter knows her well!" Or Endymion, added Serenity-in-love, but Serenity-in-charge ignored her.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're going on about," said Luna. "Serenity, can you—?"

Serenity stood up. "No! I cannot do anything to do. Cancel everything. I . . . I need to think about some things." She walked out. After a second, she stuck her head back in. "Please send breakfast to my room. With a glass of juice."

**I'm sorry it's short again, but it's drama-filled and fun. I'll try to update soon. There are less than ten chapters left so it's no big deal.**

**On another note, have any of you heard "Stars" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals? Isn't it the perfect Jupiter/Nephrite song?**


	15. Chapter 15

**Well, this is yet another tense chapter. I'd wanted the whole thing to be a single scene, but I had two I couldn't get out of my head.**

King Endymion's hand tightened around the paper, creating a weak crease in it. He leaned back in the wooden chair and scowled. His generals glanced at him in the dimly lit room. The letter must have been bad news. Jadeite moved to look at what it read, but the others made him sit. They'd learned recently that most of what came from the rest of the solar system was none of their business.

"Sir?" called Kunzite eventually, but Endymion didn't even hear him. He sat still and stared at the paper for who knows how long.

When he rose, he said, "I'll return soon," and gave no other clues to what was happening.

* * *

><p>Serenity leaned against the glass of the window, curled up on the bay window with the curtains secluding her from the rest of her room. It was cold and sent chills down her body but she didn't care. She felt like she deserved it with what had been happening. Serenity sighed. She was a coward. She <em>should<em> have been out there fixing everything, but she was too scared. She didn't have a clue of what she would need to do. She blinked away tears. Selene wouldn't have been proud of Serenity right then. Serenity wasn't even proud of herself. She shivered again, almost wishing that the window would heat up, but then remembered that it was the punishment she had given herself.

"Your Majesty? . . . Are you in here?"

She softly said, "Yes."

"King Endymion is here to see you," called a man through the door.

Serenity hesitated and replied, "I'm not taking visitors today."

There was silence—no, if she listened, Serenity could hear the two conversing. The sound of his voice made her heart speed up. She flushed and lowered her face to her knees in attempt to hide it. What would he think of her when he found out what she'd done? What would anybody think?

The servant said, "Your Majesty, he says he won't leave until he sees you. It's a 'matter of great importance'."

Did he know already?

"Well, _I _said," snapped Serenity, "that I'm not talking visitors."

She thought she'd managed to make them leave until she heard Endymion sit on her bed. He stared at the moon queen startled for a moment. Although he could only make out her figure, he didn't see any buns. Her hair was down. Her hair was never down.

Once she'd discovered that he'd entered regardless of what she said, Serenity moved one of the curtains to the side. Her blue eyes flew to his and for a moment he smiled at her. Serenity tried not to act relieved. Even if he didn't know, he'd find out. She turned her head back to the window, releasing the drape, and stared into space, literally.

"I've never been in your room," he said.

She blandly replied, "I don't like people in here."

"Oh. I apologize." Endymion added, running his hand along the sheets, "It's nice though."

She didn't reply.

"I have . . . er, bad news. Mars has issued a new report on Saturn. But . . . but this time she wants to put the entire planet to sleep. I'm not sure what information she's using to do this, but it seems like it might be valid. There will be an Alliance meeting in a few days to go over this . . . . Serenity, are you listening to me?"

Serenity sighed and pulled her knees to her chest, playing with the fabric that was tumbling off the edge of the gray seating. "Yes."

Endymion sounded frustrated, but she couldn't look at him. "Saturn is your friend, is she not? Don't you think you should try to help her?

"Don't you have any reaction to this at all?" he demanded when she refused to speak for yet another five minutes.

Serenity let the tears prick her eyes. She leaned forward and let her hair cover her face. She couldn't look guilty. She couldn't let Endymion think she was guilty. But could she let Saturn be put to sleep just because she didn't want Endymion angry with her? A sob escaped her lips. Serenity tried to hide it, but it echoed through the room. Another one slipped out.

"Serenity . . . ," said Endymion, suddenly concerned. He moved from her bed and pushed the curtains aside and took the crying girl into his arms. "It's alright. I apologize; I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, that's not . . . . I didn't— I don't," she squeaked out. Anything other than that was unintelligible. With each sob that came out, he held her even tighter. That only made Serenity cry more. She didn't deserve this. Endymion picked her up and moved the queen to the bed. Maybe if he made her more comfortable, she would stop. It almost physically hurt to hear her wail.

Endymion whispered, "Please don't cry."

". . . my fault!" she shrieked, unable to take. "Saturn . . . she's going to be . . . and I . . . I . . . and Mars!"

"Calm down. We can talk then. Please, calm down."

"No. _No_! . . . not listening," mumbled Serenity before breaking down again.

"I hate seeing you cry," he said. "I should've broken the news more gently."

"No, no, no," she screeched. Serenity pushed him away, scooting to the other end of the mattress, and took a few deep breaths. "Endymion, you aren't listening to me."

He disagreed. "Yes, I am."

Serenity shook her head. "I already knew about Mars and Saturn."

"Who told you?" he asked.

"No one." Serenity paused. She took a deep breath. At the very least, she had to be the one to tell him this. Serenity wasn't going to be a complete coward. "_I'm_ the one who told Mars."

He froze. His posture was that of a statue; his lips were turning white from being pressed together so tightly. His dark blue eyes focused on her so harshly that she wanted to die. She felt like she was the worst thing that could exist in any universe. Through his teeth, Endymion slowly asked, "What _exactly_—to the word—did you tell Mars?"

"I don't remember _exactly_ . . . ," Serenity bit her lip, "but I told Mars that I'd gone to visit Saturn. When I got there, I was told that she was in this room. I found it and walked in. I saw Saturn pick up the Silence Glaive, stand up, and drop it. Then I saw her catch it just barely before it hit the ground."

Endymion nodded with little enthusiasm.

Serenity shivered. "I saw her almost end the universe."

"You don't know what you saw," he corrected. His blank expression transformed into a furious one. He abruptly stood. "You didn't know what you saw and yet you go straight to Mars and give her _just_ the incriminating facts."

"I didn't mean to—" The queen slowly slid off the bed.

"_Yes_, you did, Serenity," replied Endymion. "You wouldn't have done so if you didn't intend to."

Serenity huffed. "I was frightened and I didn't know what to do. I went to Mars for support—"

"That's a lie. You and Mars hate each other." The king crossed his arms and held his head high, daring her to contradict him.

Serenity scowled. She smoothed down her dress and tucked her hair behind her ear. Now she wished it was up. It was starting to bother her. "We overcame our differences. We're friends now. Just because it's not always apparent doesn't mean it isn't so. Friends can argue. Endymion, you don't know everything and I would appreciate it if you didn't act so."

He ignored that. "Even so, you had plenty of other people you could have spoken to. Jupiter was closer."

"I _had_ to go to Mars," said Serenity. She inhaled, her chest rising with the effort. "Mars is my . . . . She's the one I talk to when . . . ."

"You're lying!" he snapped. "You can't even figure out _how_ to lie."

"I am not . . . ."

Endymion shook his head. "I don't think you're half as innocent as you make yourself out to be. It makes perfect sense. You don't want Saturn in the Alliance either so you and Mars must have made this plan. Mars would pretend to hate you and you would 'befriend' Saturn. You would find something Mars could use to oust her and then you'd play it off like you weren't involved because you were her _friend_."

Serenity sniffed, trying to stop the tears from coming. She asked, "And when exactly would we have done that? My mother was dead before I knew I would be queen. I was allowed but a few weeks in mourning before I had to meet with the Alliance and take over all other duties while learning anything and everything I could possibly need to know. What free time did I have then?"

"I'm sure you made it."

Serenity had always stood up for herself and she'd definitely used violence before. But that was as a child. As she's matured, she'd learned to use her words. For the first time in years, Serenity raised her hand and slapped Endymion with all of her might. She then tried to punch him, but he held her back.

"How dare you?" she snarled. "How dare you accuse me of not mourning my mother properly? . . . Release me!"

When he did, she said, "Get out. Am I going to have to call the guards?"

Endymion rolled his eyes. "Of course not. Why would I want to stay in the palace of such a person?"

Once he'd left the room, Serenity laid down on her bed. She couldn't bring herself to cry so she just laid there for the next few hours.

* * *

><p>"Serenity . . . Serenity . . . ," Luna called. She sat next to her on the bed. She pushed on the queen's shoulder, trying to snap her out of the trance. The girl twitched. She tossed her silver hair over one shoulder and shakily pushed herself up. She leaned on Luna sadly. The advisor wrapped her arms around Serenity. "Is something wrong, dear?"<p>

Serenity sniffled. "Did you hear? About Saturn?"

"Yes."

"Everything?"

"About your involvement, yes. Is that why you're sad?"

She shook her head.

"Tell me." Luna huffed. She looked to the side. "Serenity, why can't you tell me this stuff? I'm not that much older than you."

Serenity blinked, stunned. "You're not?"

Luna scowled. "I'm only twenty! Not even King Endymion's age . . . ."

Serenity flinched. She murmured, "When Endymion was here . . . he accused of me of lying. He said that I took time out of my mourning to make . . . make a plan with Mars and do all of this."

Luna hugged her. "Oh, dear. He's just angry. He doesn't really mean it."

"But . . . some of the things he said," Serenity paused and said, "I'm not sure I can forgive him."

"He's not sure he can forgive you for what you did to Saturn." Luna smoothed her hair. "Serenity, I think you're expecting him to take all of the problems and magically fix them. King Endymion is only twenty-two. Even though he's considerably older than you, he's still pretty young. And marriages are partnerships. You have to be on the same level. You're equals."

Serenity's small pink lips fell open. "Marriage? I'm not marrying Endymion!"

"Well, maybe it's not set, but you want to," said Luna.

Serenity reddened. "Who could have possibly told you that?"

"I figured it out myself." Luna grinned at her. "Alright, Artemis told me. But you need to think more like an adult."

Luna stood up. She walked to the large doors and opened one. "Good night, my queen. I'll see you in the morning." She turned out the light and left the queen sitting in the dark.

The queen, however, stood up. She slowly walked to the doors as well and waited until she was sure that Luna was out of hearing range. Then Serenity ran as far as she possibly could in the palace, trying to find a place that she was sure no one would find her. After wandering through many twists and turns, she found a room.

**See? A quick update. Well, I'm definitely getting back in the habit. I hope to be posting again soon, but no promises.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Remember that this story is **_**very**_** AU. It grows even more so this chapter.**

Serenity shuffled in warily. She'd never seen this room before. She hadn't known it existed. Actually, she didn't even know that this corridor existed. She frowned. She _should_ have known her way around by fifteen years of living in the palace. There was no reason for Serenity not to know of this room. She looked around. The bed was unmade. Someone had been in here recently. That was unnerving. Who could be staying in her castle that she didn't know of.

Yet, the room made her feel really good. Almost . . . refreshed.

The sound of shattering glass turned Serenity's head. Of all the things to expect, she hadn't been expecting a tiny . . . person.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I'd better clean this up." With a wave of her hand, the cup she'd dropped disappeared. The small woman smiled. "It's an honor to meet you, Queen Serenity. I have been waiting for Luna to introduce me to you, but she's been debating on when the time would be right."

Serenity pursed her lips. "Luna knows you're here?"

The woman looked a bit startled. "Oh, yes, of course, your Majesty. She didn't . . . ? Oh, it doesn't matter. You're here now. We have a lot to talk about."

"I, er," said Serenity, confused. She didn't really think that this was the time to talk. If anything, after the ordeal with Endymion, she would much prefer to be thinking.

"Do you know where your mother came from?

Serenity frowned. "Here?"

The woman shook her head furiously, her white hair swinging. She froze. "Oh, I apologize. I haven't introduced myself. I am Guardian Cosmos, guardian of the Galaxy Cauldron, and your Sailor Power Guardian."

Did she just say "sailor"? As in Sailor senshi? Serenity said, "I'm sorry, excuse me, but—"

"Please listen," said Guardian Cosmos. "This is very important information. As queen, you need to know this, Serenity.

"As I was saying, your mother is not from the moon and neither are you. In fact, nobody is. There isn't life on moons. That's absurd. Now, you know that your advisors are from Mau, correct?" Serenity nodded. "I told you that I guard the Galaxy Cauldron. The cauldron is surrounded by three . . . planets I suppose. They're almost islands, in a way, just flat surfaces floating in space. Er, uh, Mau is one of them, as is Silver and Starred. These islands as a chain are called Kinmoku. They are ruled by Queen Kakyuu. Are you listening?"

Serenity blinked. "Er, yes. Um, Queen Kakyuu isn't exactly a real _queen_ per say. She simply oversees the running of the islands. Queen Kakyuu has three guards, one from each island, called the Sailor Starlights. But they are not the Sailor senshi of the islands. Those are Sailor Mau, Sailor Cosmos, and Sailor Chaos."

"Cosmos and Chaos?" Serenity asked, remembering what she'd brought up with her friends. "That's real?"

"Very. Do you remember the ending? 'Cosmos and Chaos continued to fight and from their contrast, as different as white and black, gray was born.' Cosmos is Silver, Chaos is Starred, and the gray is Mau. Together, these three senshi help guard the cauldron from the outside. Everyone who knew of them called them simply 'the Guardians'. But then Sailor Cosmos and Sailor Chaos fought once again and Sailor Mau was unable to stop them. Both were killed; however, Chaos's Star Seed was broken and split into pieces. Instead of being reborn on Starred, she was sent in different directions, into different people."

"But that's terrible!" cried Serenity.

Guardian Cosmos smiled. "Serenity, remember the story. Even though Sailor Chaos did her duty, she is unbridled darkness. While she isn't pure evil, she's meant to be at odds with light. Cosmos is light and she's not pure good. Mau is the combination of both. Please, you need to understand all of this."

"Well, I don't. Light and darkness?"

"They are more . . . concepts than anything. Neither of them have a particular morality; they are simply opposing sides. Let me explain now.

"Cosmos, on the other hand, _was_ reborn on Silver—nearly. A woman there was pregnant and her stomach frequently glowed with Cosmos's power. Queen Kakyuu decided that Sailor Cosmos needed to be sent to a faraway solar system in order to watch for Chaos's return. After all, it was Cosmos who split her in the first place and the two were needed as Guardians. So the woman, along with many Kinmokians, was sent to a moon to act as a kingdom until the time had come."

Serenity bit her lip and said, "I'm Kinmokian."

"Yes."

"Not Lunarian."

"Yes."

"And I'm from Silver, correct?"

"Yes." Guardian Cosmos sighed audibly. "_Please_, Serenity, I need to explain this. It is much more important than you could ever imagine. Alright. So the Moon Kingdom was set up. It worked for years. Princess Selene noticed that not one of the other planets had contacted each other yet, so she decided to do just that. She attempted to create an alliance for nearly a hundred years, but the rulers were hostile to each other. The only reason they maintained contact was because they feared the never-aging queen. Selene realized this and performed a spell that shortened her and her daughter's lifetimes."

"I'm sorry. I was born then?" asked Serenity.

Guardian Cosmos nodded. She was growing annoyed with the interruptions. "_No_. Your mother was pregnant. Kinmokian pregnancies last years."

Serenity grimaced at the sound of that.

"I'm not entirely sure _what_ Selene did, but she in a way made you both very similar to the beings in this solar system. . . . Once the rulers saw that Selene was finally aging like them, they became friendlier and just short of an alliance. After years, when those rulers' children were crowned, Selene's alliance was finally coming to fruition. Are you recognizing this story?"

Serenity nodded. "But why are you here? Do you want us to return to Kinmoku now that Cosmos is . . . gone?" She frowned at the thought. She didn't want to leave now. She finally had friends close to her age—well, not really—that treated her as an equal. She had someone she loved, she wanted to marry. She couldn't leave now. The moon was her home.

"Gone?" replied Guardian Cosmos. "Oh, no, Serenity. _You_ are Cosmos. Not Selene. She was the pregnant woman. Her mother wouldn't allow her to leave Kinmoku without her and she became ruler because she feared that Selene would injure Cosmos by ruling while pregnant. I know this is a lot to take in, but we'd better continue at once.

"Chaos has returned, Cosmos—would you prefer that?"

Serenity shook her head. "No. _No_. Call me Serenity."

"Alright. Part of Chaos is attacking Kinmoku. She's already killed Sailor Mau and I think she's done something to the cauldron. Her Star Seed wasn't called back. We have no Guardians."

Serenity said, "So you do want me to return?"

"No. You have more to do here," said the cauldron guardian.

Serenity grinned. "Thank goodness. I love it here."

Guardian Cosmos gave her a puzzled look. "You _are_ Cosmos, but you are different. It must be all this time away from the crystal . . . . Ah, that's why I'm here. This is the Cosmos Crystal. It's your Star Seed."

Serenity stared at the crystal. It was large, glowing, and white. It seemed so pure: purely light. It fascinated Serenity. She could hardly comprehend what this was to her. She looked over to Guardian Cosmos, who was examining her carefully.

"It's the time away from the crystal. Your hair is becoming white again."

Serenity reached for a pigtail and examined it in her hand. It _was_ nearly white. What was happening to her hair? It was supposed to be silver, just like her mother's.

"I cannot allow to have the whole thing. Sailor Cosmos should not awaken yet. But you need to be a Sailor senshi . . . ." Guardian Cosmos broke a piece of the crystal. Serenity looked shocked. "When it is time, the pieces will reconnect. For now, use this as your Star Seed. You must not tell anyone about this."

Serenity nodded. She was still a bit dazed about everything that was happening.

"At your next Alliance meeting, you _must_ awaken the senshi of this solar system. Chaos is here as well." Guardian Cosmos looked around the cool white room. "I need to leave now, Serenity. I have been away from the cauldron far too long. I will see you again."

Serenity was dazed.

* * *

><p>"And just where have you been?" asked Luna. She crossed her arms and stared up at Serenity from the queen's bed. "You were supposed to be asleep, young lady!"<p>

"I was with Guardian Cosmos," Serenity said icily. "Now I will go to sleep." Serenity took a step and paused at the mirror. She was Cosmos. The girl in the mirror was Cosmos. But she didn't look any different and she didn't feel any different either. It was just so strange knowing this. She didn't even know what she knew.

Luna paled. "Serenity, you weren't supposed to find out about her."

"I figured that out. Luna, I'm not _mad_, I just— Am I really Cosmos?" she asked helplessly. Luna stood up and hugged the queen.

She whispered, "Yes, you are."

* * *

><p>"Hel-<em>lo<em>, Endymion!" cried Venus happily. She hopped out of the bushes and sat down next to the king on the bench. Endymion's expression was completely appalled. Venus, seeing that she'd achieved her objective, smirked. Endymion realized that his childhood torture was not quite over and rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing here? And how did you get in?" he wondering, considering that this was the king's garden. He scrunched his nose. And why was she hiding in a bush? Had she gotten there before him or somehow snuck in?

"Er, King Endymion, there's a—" Kunzite froze, looking at Venus. He scowled. Venus continued smirking. She straightened her collar and fixed the chain around her waist.

Endymion said, "Queen Venus was in a rush. We'll be speaking now; don't worry." When the general had left, Endymion looked at Venus. "Please don't torment him."

"It's fun. Almost as fun as tormenting you," said Venus. "Now, let's get to why I'm here. It's important."

Endymion gave her a look. "And just why _are_ you here?"

"You need to talk."

"_I_ need to talk?" repeated Endymion.

"Yes," declared Venus, matter-of-factly. "Alright, what happened between you and Serenity?"

To his surprise, Endymion told her everything. Venus sat there calmly, not saying a word until he finished, not even moving except now and then to adjust her hair or position or sometimes to fiddle with the chain. He glanced at it. Odd chain. Heart-shaped. Finally, the story ended and Venus looked at him, eyes calm.

"She's right. Mars and Serenity are friends. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but it did," the queen said.

"No. It didn't. They couldn't possibly be friends," the king insisted. "I'd know it.

"Not necessarily. She isn't little Princess Serenity anymore. She's the queen and none of us are going to be alerted about everything." Venus paused. "Serenity has a great destiny, Endymion. I can sense it. I suggest you enjoy the time you do have with her."

"What in the world are you going on about? Time with her? Venus, why are you even talking to me about this?"

Venus giggled. "Because you're in _love_ with her, silly. _Please_ tell me you've at least figured that out."

Endymion buried his blushing hand in his hand. "Course I have."

"Well, good then. Have fun with that." Venus rose and let herself out. Endymion shook his head at her. While she walked down the halls, Kunzite stopped her abruptly, grabbing her by the wrist. To his surprise, the seemingly flight queen (that he know remembered as his king's cunning and strategic torturer) jerked her wrist away and knocked him to the wall.

"You shouldn't barge in here without informing anyone," he scolded as he straightened.

Venus shrugged gracefully. "I needed to speak with Endymion. I'm leaving now, so it doesn't matter." She giggled for effect and tried again to skip off.

Kunzite called, "Yes, it does. You must do that next time."

Venus sighed and turned back, a blank look on her face. "I will next time. Alright?" She turned back, inhaled deeply, and forced a smile to her face. Kunzite stared. She was beautiful.

**So the update didn't take too long! I'll see you again soon.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but it's been kind of rough. My dad's computer broke so the story I was really excited to publish next is completely gone. I had really tough finals. Oh, and my friend just got out of an abusive relationship. That's not a bad thing, really good actually, but she told us a week ago and this had apparently gone on for ten months.**

**That being said, I hope everything is great for you all.**

Luna shuffled out of bed. She got dressed and hurried to Serenity's room. Blinking as she heard muffled clicks and clinks, Luna opened the door. Serenity sat at her vanity, delicately putting her hair up. The moon queen was dressed and completely ready for the day. Luna was speechless.

"Good morning," Serenity murmured sleepily, informing Luna that the queen was still herself. "I couldn't sleep. I thought that I would get ready for the meeting." She frowned remembering what it was about, but pinned a smile on for her advisor. Luna caught the slip, but let it go. If Serenity needed to speak, she would. Besides, maybe Serenity needed this lesson. She had to grow up some time, no matter how Luna wished she could keep that from her.

"Luna, you're from Mau, right?"

"Yes, my queen."

Serenity turned away from the vanity. "So you're Kinmokian as well?"

Luna took a seat on the bed. "Yes, but not the same as you. The people of Mau are cats that can take a humanoid form."

"What?" exclaimed Serenity. "You're a cat? Show me!"

Luna shook her head and said, "Serenity, I need to look like a human to be your advisor."

"Well . . . aren't there other Mauans on the moon?" she asked.

"No. The only Kinmokians that came with your mother and grandmother are from Silver. Let's talk about this later. We have half an hour before we need to leave for the meeting—it's on Earth this time, in case you forgot." The mention of Earth made Serenity stop speaking, which had been her intention. Luna felt guilty for doing that, but Serenity really didn't need to know what her occupation really was. She turned to leave.

"What is the worst thing that could happen at this meeting?" Serenity asked.

Luna blinked a few times before answering nervously, "Queen Saturn could be sentenced to eternal sleep for endangering the lives of everyone in the universe?"

"_If_ I stick up for her," added the queen. "Besides, Endym—Endymion and Jupiter care for her greatly and Uranus and Neptune are really smart. They'll know the truth! Oh, and since Saturn is supposed to be in the Alliance, Pluto will definitely join in. You can do this, Serenity."

Luna watched as Serenity gave a pep talk to herself and smiled. The advisor turned and left the queen alone. She decided to go to her office. She really needed to settle down the group that wanted to return to Kinmoku. Her pale feet moved across the white tile. It was particularly cold this morning. Luna wondered why. Goosebumps ran across her legs and arms. She had a bad feeling. Luna warily looked around. Was someone around? Was there an intruder . . . or an assassin? Luna took a deep breath and calmed herself. She was worrying too much. If there was an assassin, he would already be in Serenity's room and most likely have already killed her. Serenity was still humming . . . no, singing, now. She was fine; nothing was going to happen. Luna turned around.

She squeaked.

"Luna!" Artemis smiled. "You're almost as jumpy as Serenity this morning."

Luna scowled. "I just had a bad feeling. I thought you were an intruder. There's no reason to be rude; you know my feelings are usually correct . . . ! Er, Artemis, is something wrong?" Luna looked at her partner's slightly worried face. Artemis pushed his white hair out of his face and handed a paper to her.

"You received an express letter from Mau this morning."

Luna ripped it open. "'Dear Luna, Guardian Cosmos has returned. Sailor Mau's Star Seed is officially being reborn and everything is it should be. I suppose we were worried over nothing. Love, Mewla.'"

The two were quiet for a moment.

"Nothing's wrong," said Artemis. "I guess your feeling _was_ wrong."

Luna's blue eyes darted around the paper, looking for a sign of something unnatural. "But what if it wasn't? Artemis, the feeling is getting worse. Maybe something isn't right back home or maybe something bad is going to happen here or . . . ." Artemis laughed and turned his back. Luna glared because her troubles were not something to be taken lightly.

"You worry too much, Luna!"

"Well . . . you worry too little!"

"Please stop arguing!" called Serenity from the other room. Luna huffed and walked away.

* * *

><p>The ride to Earth was short. Serenity's stomach twisted and she was pale from nerves. The ship landed and she tried to concentrate on the whir of the engine. Then the door opened and Serenity knew it was time for her to go. She grasped the soft fabric of her dress and rose . . . and tripped over Luna's feet.<p>

"Sorry," said Serenity. "Oh, that reminds me . . . . Luna, I think it's time for me to actually do my work as queen.

"I know you've been taking care of a lot of the problems on the moon for me. And thank you for that—I needed that time to mourn more. But it's been eight months and it's time for me to take on the responsibility. I need to grow up and do things on my own, especially if I'm going to be . . . uh," Serenity stopped. She exhaled. "I'm going to the meeting now. I'll see you later."

Serenity slowly exited and walked to the main door. She let herself in.

"Hey, Seren—ow! _Queen_ Serenity!"

Serenity screamed when she heard the voice. She calmed when she realized that it was Jadeite. He looked perplexed at her screaming. The rest of Endymion's guard stood by him equally confused.

Mortified, the queen snapped, "Don't sneak up on people! It's rude."

"Sorry," replied Jadeite, not sounding sorry at all. "You're just like all of the other queens. They're all so tense, like something bad is happening. Endymion—ow, _King_ Endymion too."

Serenity couldn't help but grin when Kunzite nudged his subordinate none-too-lightly for leaving off the title. She guessed he was also the one that did it when Jadeite called her Serenity. Why did he do that anyway? Was he used to hearing Endymion call her that, maybe? Did Endymion mention her enough for his guard to pick up the habit? The grin slipped away. Most likely not anymore.

The door squeaked as it opened. The five in the room winced at the sound. Mars entered the room.

"Serenity," she said in a friendly voice.

"Please don't do this, Mars," replied Serenity in a quieter voice.

Mars frowned. "Serenity, you told me what you saw. You must admit that the Alliance needs to discuss that. I'm not saying Saturn _did_ do that with malicious intent, but even still, she took the risk."

Serenity glanced to the side. "That is true."

Mars nodded and said, "Let's go to the meeting."

The two queens were assured up the stairs by the men. Serenity gripped the shiny golden rail tightly as she looked around. Mars took note of that and asked her if she was planning on falling to which Serenity stuck her tongue out. The came to the conference room and the royalty walked in together . . . and to Serenity's surprise, no one glared at her, although Saturn did look nervous. She looked at Endymion. Even he only seemed slightly agitated.

She took her seat.

"Let's commence," said Pluto.

Mars rose immediately. "We all know what happened. We all know what we're voting on. I say yes."

Neptune and Uranus agreed readily. Serenity's eyes widened.

"I say no," said Serenity and Endymion quickly. They exchanged an awkward glance.

Mercury spoke up. "We _don't_ know, actually, Mars. We heard what you heard. That's hearsay. We have both of the people there. Let's let them speak. Serenity?"

All eyes turned to her. She shrunk her seat. "Mars told you what I told her. I'm sure that's sufficient . . . but"—she continued when she was the recipient on many exasperated looks—"I went to visit Saturn and was told the room she was in. When I opened the door, I watched Saturn drop the Silence Glaive and catch it before it hit the ground. Then I left."

"I wasn't really— I . . . ," Saturn stuttered defending herself. She fixed her lacy headband. "The Silence Glaive . . . it doesn't only . . . . I mean, it _can_ end the universe, but that's only if—"

"If _what_?" urged Venus, a surprisingly serious look on her face.

"If I don't say anything." Saturn paused and added, "Serenity, you heard me speaking, right?"

Serenity nodded. "Yes, you said something along the lines of, 'Silence Wall'."

Saturn looked relieved when she gained support. "I was putting up a barrier. Some of the Saturnian priests sensed a large quantity of death in the future and I wanted to take preventative measures."

"This is true," Pluto said.

Mars clenched her teeth and looked at Saturn. ". . . I believe you." The room was silent. "My priests saw misfortune as well. I withdraw my vote."

Serenity grinned at Mars. "You would have been overruled anyway."

"So was this meeting a waste of time?" Uranus scowled at the thought. Neptune put a calming hand on her fiancée. Serenity looked around the room. Did everyone else know? The room burst into chaos, in disagreement about the meeting and other things. Jupiter and Endymion spoke to Saturn about how it was better now. Venus chided Mars for bringing this up. Uranus and Neptune were actually in dispute about the productivity. Serenity quietly sat and watched. She turned to Mercury, the only other one (not counting Pluto who rarely spoke during meetings) not speaking, but Mercury was preoccupied.

The blue-haired queen looked around the room and quietly said, "No. From what I see, this meeting was disorganized. We need a leader. And I think it should be Serenity."

Serenity shook her head at the idea so roughly that her pearls flew out, letting her silver bangs fall in her face.

Venus piped up, "I agree. Serenity, you know when you need to take charge and when you need to admit that you're wrong, but you don't let go of your ideals."

"I, um," said Serenity, "I . . . I'm fifteen."

"Your birthday is next month," supplied Saturn.

"That doesn't mean you're a bad queen," said Mars.

Jupiter added, "We trust you, Serenity. All in favor of making Serenity head?"

It was unanimous.

"So," Venus drawled with a big smile, "what's going to be your first act?"

Serenity bit her bottom lip. "We all need to wake up the Sailor senshi."

"Why?"

"We haven't in years."

". . . Are you joking?"

"Does the moon even have a Sailor senshi?"

Serenity only answered the final question. "Yes. I'm Sailor Moon."

The moon queen rose gracefully and exited the room, leaving no room argument.

* * *

><p>"I pronounce you wife and wife. The brides may kiss."<p>

Serenity grinned at her friends. The wedding was so adorable and they were so in love. It was perfect. The crowd began to exit to make way for the newlyweds. Serenity followed along. She made a note to ask the couple why they chose to have the wedding on Uranus.

"Hello, Serenity," said Mercury, pushing through the crowd to take a place beside her friend. She drew her cloak tightly around her body. Serenity envied her friend. She should have thought of bringing something as well. Uranus was fairly cold.

"Took the words out of my mouth!" Venus joined them. "Oh, and Serenity, _I'm_ Sailor Venus! Isn't that wonderful? We'll be teammates!"

Mercury leaned to speak to the blonde. "So am I. I mean, I'm Sailor Mercury. And Jupiter is too. Sailor Jupiter, I mean."

"I understand," laughed Venus. She fixed the collar of her dress again and straightened the red tie around her neck.

Serenity blinked. "Is it that way for everyone?"

"Everyone I spoke to," said Mercury. "That would include Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto."

"I knew about Pluto," Serenity replied. She stood on her toes, trying to see if the couple had come outside yet. "It makes me wonder though. If all of the queens are Sailor senshi and Earth doesn't have a queen, who would be Sailor Earth?"

Mercury and Venus pointed over Serenity's shoulder. She turned around. It was Endymion. She tried to keep a smile on her face. This was awkward. She hadn't seen him since the meeting and they hadn't really spoken there either. The last time they had, they'd argued. Serenity tried to ignore all of that. She gave him a "well?" look and glanced to Venus and Mercury, but the two of them had walked over to Jupiter and Mars. The minute Serenity looked back at the king, the gazes of the four focused on the pair. They giggled. Serenity watched Endymion's lips move as he answered, but a cheer from the crowd of Uranians drowned him out.

"Long live King Uranus and Queen Neptune!"

"King?" cried Endymion and Serenity.

Serenity made a note to ask about _that_ as well and leaned close to Endymion. "I can't hear you. What did you say?"

"We can't find Sailor Earth."

"Well, why not?"

Endymion looked particularly exasperated at that question. Serenity continued to think.

"Well . . . maybe she's in the womb," she decided.

Endymion blushed slightly. "You sound like Jupiter."

Serenity then realized what exactly she'd and to whom and blushed as well. Endymion grasped her hands. Serenity stared down at them.

"Serenity, will you marry me?" Serenity's eyes turned cold and she scowled. Endymion looked disappointed. "I see." He started to walk away, a bit embarrassed for asking her.

"Endymion," she said, "why would you ask me here? This is a wedding! Getting engaged _here_ is basically stealing the show!"

Endymion stopped. "Are you accepting?"

"_No_!" emphasized the queen. "I'm saying that I would accept if you ask at a better time."

She glanced at the king. His face was relieved and happy. His mouth was trembling as if he wanted to grin but couldn't and his eyes were lit up. It was such a wonderful expression. Serenity looked down. That expression was for her.

"I love you, Serenity."

". . . I love you too."

The two smiled shyly at each other.

"Serenity, Endymion."

The sort-of-engaged-but-sort-of-not couple looked at the newlyweds and smiled.

"Congratulations!" said Serenity. "Be happy! Have fun! This is amazing!"

Endymion smile-laughed at his sort-of-fiancee. "Congratulations," he restated.

"Thank you," replied Neptune gracefully.

"Oh! I just remembered! I have some questions for you," said Serenity. "First off, why did you decide to have the wedding on Uranus?"

"We plan to live here full time," explained Neptune. She leaned into Uranus and sighed happily. Serenity wondered if she'd be as happy when she married Endymion. "I have people under me that can take care of things that need attention immediately, but the laws here say that only Uranus can make decisions. It's simpler this way."

Serenity nodded. "I see. Next, I heard the crowd call you King Uranus. Why?" She tried to ignore the fact that Endymion was subtly scooting closer to her. Her heart pounded and it was nerve-wracking and exciting and wonderful.

"Oh. Well, my culture doesn't have differing titles for gender. I'm King Uranus. And all around these are lords. Dukes, earls, etcetera. There's no point in changing the title if the duties are the same. And Neptune is a queen because she is in her own right. Kings here only have consorts."

"Oh. Well, go on. You have a reception to get to. We'll see you there." Serenity grinned and waved them off. As the couple walked away, Uranus remarked that she hadn't been expected to be shooed from her own wedding.

"Serenity . . . ."

She looked at him. Even not being engaged, they had a lot to talk about.

**I'm assuming that this chapter will be well-recepted because of the engagement. (I'm not going to write it, but Endymion does ask Serenity again later and she officially accepts.)**

**So the story is officially winding down and part 2 is basically over. I'm just going to warn you that a lot of the remaining chapters will be mushy and gushy and romantic, but there is still a plot. I'm five chapters from the end. I'm definitely going to miss writing this story, but at the same time, I'm ready to finish. It will be one of the few stories I've finished and I'm really happy about that.**

**I actually have more stories for this universe planned, but that depends on how this finishes out. On the other hand, there's a new poll on my profile about posting some extras. Please check it out.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey, guys! So I know I kind of took a hiatus, but I'm back now. And I'm going to blatantly honest with you: I have mainly lost interest in Sailor Moon. I will finish all the stories that I have started (for this category, it would be this story, Serenity, Gravity, and that two-shot I meant to finish close to New Year's), but then I think I'm going to leave this account forever.**

**Anyway, let's move to a happier subject: here's the next chapter! (Of course, it's only letters. I know you've all waited forever for this and I wanted to go ahead and get it out.)**

_Dear Luna and Artemis de Mau,_

_I apologize for my not having written before. I know you must be worried, but I assure you I am perfectly well. Endymion has treated me kindly (at least when he's had the time to see me) and his guards have been delightful as well. If you don't remember, there is Kunzite, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoisite._

_I have only spoken briefly with Kunzite. He is apparently the leader and has much more duties than the other three. He seems formal, stiff even, but very kind. He congratulated me on my engagement._

_Perhaps I have spoken with Jadeite the most. He at first was rather intimidating, especially because he told Endymion he wanted to steal me away. However, he later informed me he was just bothering Endymion. He does his best to keep me entertained when there is nothing to do. He's a rather interesting conversationalist._

_Nephrite is . . . . I have spoken with him less than Kunzite. He greeted me when I arrived, but has since been sent on a mission._

_Then there is Zoisite. I'm entirely sure what to make of him. My first impression was that he was very similar to Mercury. He constantly has a book in hand. However, he is rather sardonic and even a bit rude._

_The people of Earth were initially very skeptical of me; however, they have eased up since I explained that my marriage with Endymion will not be a merger of our kingdoms and any and all politics will be kept separate. In short, I will be queen of Earth and he king of the moon in name only. For this, I am very glad. I would not wish to run two kingdoms. It would most definitely be exhausting. I can hardly stand to manage one! Anyway, I have met quite a few lovely people during my time here. Many confessed that they believed Endymion would never marry and the throne would without an heir. (Artemis, please stop reading here, this is something I wish for Luna alone to read.) One even grabbed my hips and said they were too small to bear good children. Then she looked at my breasts and said at least those were large enough. It was rather embarrassing. Another commented that I was young enough I should be able to give both thrones heirs in no time._

_(Luna, you can let Artemis read now.) Endymion has given me a handmaiden for when I am staying at his palace. Her name is Margaret and she is a darling, although I must admit her voice is a little grating. Margaret said she'd never worked with someone of my rank before and she seems very eager to prove herself. It's actually kind of amusing when she slips up, if that isn't too harsh to say. Last night, when she was getting out my nightclothes, she accidentally told me, "I would be less nervous if I was serving Queen Mercury or Queen Jupiter, known for being ridiculously easy to please, or even Queen Mars and I've been told she can be a nightmare, but you are the worst because I worry if I make a mistake, his Majesty will have me executed." Then she grew very pale. I assured her that Endymion would do nothing of the sort and if he were to even gain the inclination, I would stop him. She was still rather worried._

_Now this is the part of the letter I have been dreading to write. I am not sure if Endymion has informed you, but there has been a threat on my life. They have found the culprit, before you worry needlessly. She is a duchess named Beryl. I have met her previously and she did not seem to have high regards for me even then. Endymion says she was a childhood friend of his and for some reason, believed he would wed her. He has tried to squash the thoughts, but she blames me for stealing him away. She has been banished from Earth and I have begun the forms for the moon as well. In addition, I informed my friends and they said she wasn't welcome at their homes either. She is being taken to a prison on Pluto. (Did you know that Pluto is known to have the best prisons in the solar system?)_

_I will not keep anything from you, however. Despite Endymion's attempts to keep me safe, I do not believe this is the end._

_Love,_

_Queen Serenity of the Moon, sailor senshi of her home_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Serenity,<em>

_We're friends so I will not bother writing this letter formally. I merely intend to inform you that I will be visiting you during your two week stay on Earth. I cannot inform you of the exact date, but it will be soon. You should also know that it will not be just me; Venus is coming as well. We will be checking up on you and ensuring that you are being treated adequately._

_Yours truly,_

_Queen of Mars_

* * *

><p><em>Darling Serenity,<em>

_I could wax poetry about you, love. I apologize for my absence, especially when you are so near, but you must realize I am preparing for the few weeks after our marriage. It would be worse to leave you alone then._

_It pleases me so that I can tell you I love you now. I have loved you for so long and been unable to tell you. My heart broke every time I saw your face and didn't have the promise of your love or kisses. But now you are mine and will forever be so, just as I will forever be yours. I surrender myself to you entirely, darling._

_I must go now. I am in a meeting._

_Love,_

_Endymion_

* * *

><p><em>Endymion,<em>

_If you are in a meeting, you shouldn't be writing me. I love you too, with all my heart, but please stop being so sappy. You're starting to make me sick to my stomach. Also, don't even try to convince me of that! You most certainly did not love me a year ago and I would not bet on even six months! We can talk about this later._

_Love,_

_Serenity_

**I'm sorry it's so short, but I wanted to get you guys an update. Hope it was okay!**


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